Just Pretend
by rubycaspar
Summary: "I'm aware that this sounds like the beginning of a really bad romantic comedy, but my sister's getting married next weekend and I was wondering if you would go with me to the wedding and pretend to be my girlfriend?" Becker/ Jess
1. Chapter 1

Okay so this was the cliché story idea I mentioned in the last chapter of 'Distractions'... I kind of hate myself for writing it but I can't get it out of my head! This chapter's very much just setting it up, but prepare yourselves for barf-inducing fluffiness. *hates self*

Okay... well. Enjoy. *runs*

**Chapter One**

It was just an ordinary morning at the ARC – Jess was tying up loose ends from the anomaly alert a couple of days ago, and the rest of the field team were doing their thing too. Becker came to see Jess about a couple of reports, which really wasn't an unusual occurrence... Jess answered his questions before turning back to what she'd been doing.

Then it stopped being an ordinary morning at the ARC – for Jess, at least.

After a few moments Jess noticed that Becker was still standing next to her, and she looked up at him again. "Do you need something else?" She asked.

Becker leaned back against her desk and looked at her. "I... wanted to ask you something," he said. He looked away, at the wall.

Jess raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" She said. She waited for him to say something, but he was still staring at the wall. "Are you okay?" She asked after a few moments.

Becker's eyes snapped back to her. "Yeah," he said. "Sorry." He cleared his throat, looking incredibly uncomfortable all of a sudden. Jess' eyes widened – he actually looked kind of _nervous_.

"So..." he said, shifting a bit. "I am aware that this sounds like the beginning of a really bad romantic comedy..." Jess frowned in confusion – Becker looked at her properly and spoke very fast.

"But my sister's getting married next weekend, and I was wondering if you'd go with me to the wedding," he said. Jess started to smile, but Becker wasn't finished. "And pretend to be my girlfriend."

The smile was wiped off Jess' face. "What?"

Becker's look became very intense and he leant forward slightly, dropping his voice. "I can't go to this wedding alone," he said seriously. "I really, really can't."

Jess blinked. "I – why?"

Becker looked around, as if making sure no one was listening. Jess stared at him – she'd never seen him act like this before. When he'd started talking she'd actually got excited, she thought he was finally actually asking her out... kind of. But this sounded like something else. Something about this wedding was really bothering him.

He looked back at her, his eyes wide. When he spoke, his voice was hushed.

"I have four older sisters, and their favourite pastime is torturing me," he said. "The last family wedding, two years ago, they got me drunk, tied me to a railing, took pictures of me and sent them to every single girl in the hotel."

Jess gaped at him. "They what?" She wasn't sure she was hearing him correctly – Becker, Captain Becker, was getting this worked up over his _sisters_? She forgot about her disappointment that he wasn't asking her out properly and started to smile.

Becker's look intensified still further. "And not just the ones who were there for the wedding, the ones we knew – they sent it to every one."

Jess pursed her lips together, trying desperately not to laugh, and tried to think of something to say aside from the obvious... but it had to be said.

"Do you still have the pictures?"

Becker glared at her. "_No_." Jess did start to laugh then – she couldn't help herself. Becker looked away, glaring at the wall instead and folding his arms. "Needless to say I've avoided family wedding since then... but this one is my sister's, so I have to go."

He looked back at Jess, and she managed to stop laughing, but she was still grinning. She didn't usually tease people if she could help it, but _come on_. "So... I would be there to protect you from your sisters?" She asked with a smirk.

Becker actually pointed at her. "You don't know what they're like."

Jess started laughing again – Becker glared at her for a few moments before looking away again, but Jess saw that his lips were twitching, so she didn't feel too bad about the laughing.

Eventually she sobered up enough to think back to his original request, and she tried to be serious. "Well, why would I have to pretend to be your girlfriend?" She asked. "Couldn't we just go as friends?"

Becker sighed. "I did think of that, but if we did that my sisters would spend the entire weekend trying to get us together," he said.

Jess was torn between thinking that would be great and thinking that would be horrifically embarrassing. The embarrassing won, and she nodded. "Ah."

Becker shifted uncomfortably again, and shrugged. "Look I know this is really weird, you don't have to do it if –"

"Are you kidding me?" Jess said with a grin. "I _have _to see this."

Becker shook his head, but he was smiling this time. "Yeah... this is going to be a very embarrassing weekend for me," he said ruefully.

Jess shrugged. "I can't..."

Becker looked at her. "What?"

Jess smiled. "I just find it hard to imagine you with... big sisters," she said. "As the baby of the family."

Becker rolled his eyes. "Well I _am_ the baby of the family," he told her. "My youngest sister, the one who's getting married, is eight years older than me."

Jess' eyes widened. "Wow," she said. Becker shrugged.

Jess cleared her throat. "So where's the wedding? And... when?"

"It's at a hotel in Kent," Becker said. "And it's next Saturday."

Jess nodded. "So that's why you have next Friday off," she said musingly.

Becker frowned. "How do you know I have next Friday off?"

Jess gave him a sardonic look. "I know everything," she said.

"Of course," Becker said with a chuckle. They smiled at each other briefly, before Becker cleared his throat again. "I was planning on driving down on the Thursday evening, coming back Sunday afternoon. I don't know if that's..."

"That's fine," Jess said. "I haven't had a day off since I started here, so that won't be a problem."

Becker looked at her seriously for a moment, and Jess' smile faded a little under his scrutiny. Then he stood up straight. "Thanks Jess, you really are saving my life," he said. "I know that seems dramatic, but you'll understand after you've met them."

Jess grinned. "Can't wait."

_To be continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for the positive feedback for the first chapter – I'm sorry about the delay in posting this. It's all talk talk talk but I hope you all like it anyway. This story's going to be pretty wishy washy and will therefore not be quite so easy and quick to update as 'Distractions' was. Oh well!

**Chapter Two**

The next week seemed to pass by in a blur to Jess. There was just the one anomaly alert to deal with, which meant a light workload, but even so the days flew by.

Becker and Jess didn't really talk about the upcoming weekend, except for him to give her the invitation so she knew more about the setting and the dress code etcetera. Thanks to her penchant for shopping and her cousin getting married a few months before, Jess had the perfect dress already... she was glad, because she would have felt really weird about going out and buying something new.

She didn't regret agreeing to Becker's odd request, but as the days went by Jess did start to realise the magnitude of what was expected of her. She was going to have to pretend to be his _girlfriend_. That meant, if they wanted to be believable, that she was going to have hold his hand, flirt with him, possibly even kiss him. Plus they'd be staying in the same room. Jess knew Becker was a total gentleman, but still...

The bottom line was that Jess spent every single day trying to hide her feelings for Becker, and for three days she was going to have to let them roam free. In front of his family. His four sisters, his cousins, all his family friends, his _parents_. And in front of him. She just had a feeling that their friendship was not going to survive the weekend unscathed. At some point he was going to have to realise that she wasn't just pretending, and that thought scared her beyond belief.

So yeah, she didn't want to buy something new – stupid as it may seem, to her that would feel like she was trying too hard.

She'd had to tell Abby and Connor about the wedding, of course. She hadn't told them about pretending to be Becker's girlfriend, or about his sisters or anything – just that he'd asked her along. She hoped that's what he'd prefer them to know... she later found out from talking to Matt that that was what Becker had told him, so she was glad to have got it right. Of course it meant that she had to endure Abby and Connor's merciless teasing.

Finally, it got to Thursday evening and it was time to leave the ARC and drive down to the hotel. Becker had left a little while before to drive his SUV home and pick up his other car. Jess hadn't actually known that Becker _had _another car, but then again she'd never really seen him outside of work, and the SUV was a company car.

God, the first time they'd really spent time together outside of work, and she was pretending to be his girlfriend. Yep, there was _no_ way this could go wrong.

Jess handed over to the auxiliary ADD controller and went to collect her suitcase from the locker room. She dreaded bumping into Abby or Connor on her way out but she managed to make it to the car park without incident. She waited by the lifts.

A few minutes later the purring of an engine filled the underground cavern and a silver car drove down the ramp. Jess' eyes widened as the car wound its way round the pillars and over to her, before pulling up in front of her. Becker cut the engine and stepped out.

"Hey," he said, walking round the car to her. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting."

Jess managed to shake her head, still staring at the car. Becker picked up her suitcase and started to put it in the boot.

"This is your car?" Jess said after a moment. Stupid question, it clearly was, but... but...

"Yep," Becker said. He gave her a smile. "I don't really like to put it in the path of dinosaurs."

Jess just blinked at him. He frowned. "What?" He asked.

Jess looked at the car again before looking back at him. "Are you secretly rich?" She blurted out.

Becker let out a disbelieving chuckle. "_Excuse me_?"

Jess pointed at the car. "This is a Bentley Continental GTC," she said. "There is no way you could afford this car on a soldier's salary."

Becker smiled slightly as he closed the boot. "My parents bought it for me for my 22nd birthday," he explained. "It was going to be for my 21st but I wanted the convertible and it came out a year later."

Jess nodded. "So your parents are secretly rich," she said.

Becker shrugged as he walked back to her. "Nothing secret about it – my Dad's an investment banker," he said.

"Ah," said Jess. She gave him a smile. "Well, it's a beautiful car," she said.

Becker smiled, looking pleased. "Thanks," he said. Jess had to hide her grin – Becker was a _car guy_... who knew?

Becker held open the passenger door for Jess, and she started to get in, but paused to give him a teasing look. "Funny, I never had you pegged as a speed junkie," she said.

Becker raised his eyebrows. "I'm not," he said.

Jess snorted. "This car goes from 0 to 60 in 4.7 seconds!"

Becker shook his head and leant his arms on top of the open door. "Okay, how do you know so much about this car?" He asked.

Jess smiled and sat down in the leather passenger seat. "My Dad collects Bentleys," she told him.

"Really?" Becker said, sounding and looking surprised.

Jess nodded and raised an eyebrow at him. "I tell you what – if we really _were_ dating, and I took you home to meet my parents, all you would have to do would be show up in this car and my father would _adopt _you," she told him. She wasn't even in the least bit joking.

Becker quirked an eyebrow in response. "I'll bear that in mind," he said. He shut the door and jogged round the front of the car to the driver's side. He got in next to her and started the car. They both put on their seatbelts, but Becker looked at her before pulling out.

"If your Dad collects Bentleys, your parents must be secretly rich too," he said with a smirk.

Jess just shrugged. Becker pulled out and they were off.

A semi-comfortable silence fell over the car as Becker manoeuvred them through the busy London streets. Jess sat staring out the window, her mind racing. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears, so loudly she was sure Becker would be able to hear as well. She felt like she should break the silence, but she didn't know what to say.

This was stupid. She shouldn't be embarrassed. She shouldn't be nervous... not when it was just the two of them. It was when they got to the hotel that things were going to get awkward. But still... she didn't know what to say.

She caught his eyes after a while and he gave her a small smile – she returned it but didn't say anything. Instead she admired the car she was in. Like father like daughter, she'd inherited a love of fine cars... and this was definitely one. It was so comfortable, and the sound of the engine was like a purr. And she was definitely enjoying watching Becker drive – his shirt sleeves were pushed up past his elbows giving her a lovely view of his forearms tensing as his hands gripped the steering wheel...

Jess looked away quickly, hoping that Becker didn't notice the blush spreading across her cheeks. She really was pathetic. If she was going to survive this weekend, she had to stop acting like a schoolgirl with a hopeless crush. She basically _was_, but there was no need to act like it. She had to suck it up. She was going to need to think on her feet and at least try to look completely comfortable around Becker.

They'd reached the motorway by now, and Becker wasted no time in pushing the car to 70. He zipped round a car in the middle lane.

Jess smirked at Becker. "Speed junkie," she said.

"Shut up," Becker replied immediately.

Jess laughed and relaxed a little. She had to learn not to be so uptight and worried about everything... yes, lots could go wrong, but on the other hand this was an opportunity to spend time with Becker, and that had to be good, right? Things would only be uncomfortable if she let them be.

She hesitated a moment and then turned a little to face Becker. "So... we should probably use this time to discuss our back story," she said.

Becker frowned and glanced at her. "Back story?"

"Yes, we need a back story about our relationship..." Jess' voice trailed off as Becker looked completely bewildered, and she rolled her eyes. "Honestly, have you never had a fake girlfriend before?" She asked teasingly.

Becker's lips twitched. "No – have you _been _one before?" He countered.

Jess grinned. "No, but I've seen enough of those bad romantic comedies you were talking about to know how this has to go," she said. Becker actually smiled at that, and Jess ploughed on. "The first thing your sisters will ask is how long we've been together, how we met etcetera etcetera," she said. Now that they were actually talking, her nervousness was evaporating. Clearly silence was to be avoided.

"Oh god," Becker said – clearly none of what she'd said had actually occurred to him before now. "Right. What do you think?"

"The best thing to do is stick to the truth as much as possible," Jess said firmly. "So... we work together, and that's how we met."

Becker nodded. "Okay."

"Incidentally, what does your family think you do?" Jess asked curiously.

Becker quirked an eyebrow. "They just know I work in London, and it's classified," he said. He glanced at her again. "My work is the one thing they _don't_ pryabout, amazingly enough."

Jess smiled and nodded. "And we met nine months ago," she said. "And we've been dating two and a half months."

"Two and a half months?" Becker repeated incredulously. "That's very... precise."

Jess shrugged. "It's the perfect time frame," she said. "Anything less than two months it's not really that serious, anything more than three and you really should have already told your family about me."

Becker took his eyes off the road long enough to give Jess a disbelieving look. But he also looked a little bit impressed. "You know what Jess, you're clearly better at this than I am," he said. "Why don't you just _tell_ me our back story?"

Jess smirked and shook her head. "Let's leave the back story for now," she said. "Why don't you tell me about your sisters?"

Becker pulled a face. "You'll meet them soon enough," he said in what Jess considered to be an overly dramatic fashion.

Jess rolled her eyes. "It would be nice to know their _names_," she prompted.

"Right," Becker said on a sigh. Jess kind of wanted to laugh at his reluctance, but she bit her lip and stayed silent.

"Veronica's the oldest," Becker said. "She's thirteen years older than me. Miranda's two years younger than her. Tabitha's next, she's a year younger... and Carolyn is the youngest, and like I said she's eight years older than me."

"Veronica, Miranda, Tabitha, Carolyn," Jess repeated.

Becker nodded. "They don't go by their full names though – they're Ronnie, Mindy, Tabby and Carrie," he said.

Jess suddenly saw an opportunity to bring up something she'd been wondering for a couple of days. "What about you?" She asked.

"What?"

"Well I'm guessing they don't call you 'Becker'," she said. He glanced at her, and she shrugged. "Do you go by Hilary or...?"

"Hil," Becker said after a moment.

For some reason, hearing Becker actually admit his first name to hear – _finally _– made Jess absurdly happy, and she had to purse her lips together to keep from grinning. She'd known his full name since before they'd met, when she'd first read his file, and though it was unusual it wasn't something she'd thought much of. But then she'd met him and he was Becker... to her, to the team, to his men, to _everyone_, and Jess had started to wonder why he never went by his first name. She wondered if the others even _knew _it.

Eventually she nodded. "Okay... Hil," she said. She quite liked the sound of it.

Becker glanced at her and shook his head. "That sounds so weird coming from you," he said.

Jess was silent for a moment, studying his profile. "Do you not like your name?" She asked eventually. It was something she'd been wondering for a while.

Becker let out an exasperated sigh. "When people find out my first name, they always assume I must be embarrassed about it..." he said, shaking his head, "but I went to an all boys public school, and there were three other Hilarys in my year." He gave her an annoyed look which clearly told her that he'd had this conversation before.

Jess threw up her hands as if in surrender. "I'm sorry – it's just _no one _calls you Hilary," she said. Becker – _Hil_ – shrugged, his face clearing.

"It's just a military thing," he said. "Everyone calls me Becker – they have done since I was twenty."

Jess nodded, fighting back a smile. She decided to move off the subject of his name. "So back to your sisters," she said. "Carrie's the one getting married – is she the last to get married?"

"No – yes," Becker said. He frowned. "She was actually the first." He glanced at Jess and saw her confused look. "Carrie got married when she was twenty-one, straight out of uni," he explained. "But her husband, Ross, he was a marine and he got killed in action six months later."

Jess gasped, and Becker looked at her again. "It's worse – Carrie was pregnant at the time," he said.

"No!" Jess exclaimed. "Oh that's awful... did she have the baby?"

"Yeah," Becker said. "He's called Ross, too. He's twelve now."

Jess blinked, realising what this meant. "You have a nephew?" She said.

"I have four," Becker said. "And three nieces."

Jess couldn't help a grin spreading across her face. "You're _Uncle Hil_."

Becker smiled a bit at that. "Yep."

Jess' grin widened – she'd never imagined Becker as an uncle before, but now that she did she could just see him with a bunch of kids. He would be that kind of uncle that you didn't see that often but when you did he was loads of fun. She would bet anything that his nieces and nephews adored him.

Jess shook her head. "I'm so jealous... I'll never be an aunt – I'm an only child," she said.

Becker glanced at her again. "Well I'm jealous of _that_," he said.

Jess laughed. "Liar," she said.

Becker smiled. "I love my sisters, of course I do," he said after a moment. "And individually I get on really well with all of them. But when the four of them get together... they make my life _hell_."

Jess laughed, and Becker shook his head. "You laugh now, but you'll see," he said dramatically.

Jess just grinned and started asking questions about his nieces and nephews. The rest of the trip was spent discussing his family, and Jess felt she learned more about Becker in that hour than she had in the past nine months. She found herself getting quite excited to meet his family, if only to see if he was exaggerating about his sisters; but on the other hand, if they were as shrewd as Becker claimed they were, how were they every going to pull this off?

She didn't have much time to get worried about it though, because in no time at all they were turning off the motorway and winding their way through country roads towards the hotel where the wedding was taking place. Becker had mentioned earlier that it was a place his family had visited a few times when he was a kid, so he knew it pretty well. Jess had looked it up online a couple of days ago – it looked _really_ posh.

With that and the Bentley, Jess tried not to think of how rich Becker's parents must be.

The sun was just setting as they drove up the long gravel driveway towards the hotel. It really was beautiful, like something out of a Jane Austen novel. Becker smiled at Jess' awed expression as he swung the car around and parked at the side of the hotel. He cut the engine and they sat in silence for a moment.

Becker turned to face her. "Seriously Jess, thank you so much for doing this," he said.

Jess smiled and was about to reply, but before she could she noticed someone walking across the car park towards them. It was a woman, probably in her thirties, and she was making a beeline for their car. Her expression was one that Jess recognised.

"Um, there's a woman heading for the car with a very determined look on her face," she said to Becker.

Becker looked over his shoulder and groaned slightly. "That's Tabitha," he said, sinking down in his chair a little.

Jess had to laugh. "I can't believe how nervous you are," she said. "You face down _dinosaurs_ for a living."

Becker gave Jess a sardonic look. "Where do you think I got my training?" He said.

Jess smirked and Becker sighed. "Well... here we go," he said.

_To be continued..._


	3. Chapter 3

This chapter is quite short and not much happens, but it's taken me _ages _to write and I'm sick of it, so here it is. It's from Becker's POV, and as I want to switch back to Jess' POV for the next part I decided to split the chapter. I'll try and get the next part up sooner than this one!

Thanks again for the reviews... over 50 for just two chapters, I've been blown away!

**Chapter Three**

One look at his sister advancing towards him and Jess made Becker want to reverse and drive away as fast as he could... and as Jess had noticed, in this car, that was _fast_. This had to be, by far, the stupidest thing he had ever done.

He really didn't know what had possessed him to ask Jess to come to the wedding with him, let alone pretend to be his girlfriend. He'd been dreading the wedding ever since Carrie had announced her engagement, and when she'd called him last week to ask if he was bringing a guest she'd had this _tone_... and he'd let it get to him. So he'd told her that he _was _bringing someone, that he was bringing his girlfriend. It wasn't until he hung up that he'd realised the depth of the hole he'd just dug for himself.

And so he'd done the only thing he could think of – he'd asked Jess. And she'd said yes. He'd been regretting it ever since. What had he been _thinking_? He was risking his friendship with Jess, something that meant a lot to him, just to save himself from being ribbed on by his family. This was just going to make things so awkward between them.

Plus, let's face it, there was _no way _it was going to work.

Jess was watching Tabby get closer. She looked nervous. Becker gave her an apologetic look before opening his door and stepping out of the car.

"Hi, Tabby," he called out to his sister.

Tabitha, who was ten years older than Becker and had never let him forget it, started walking faster. "Hil! I thought that was you," she said. She reached him and pulled him into a hug. "Thank god you're here – Millie's been asking for you every five minutes for the past two hours."

Becker rolled his eyes as he pulled away "Right," he said. "And here's me thinking you're pleased to see me for yourself." He gave her a sardonic but affectionate look.

Tabby didn't look at all repentant. "If you ever have kids, you'll understand," she said. She paused a moment, and then pretended to shudder. "Though the thought of you reproducing is not a pleasant one," she added with a smirk.

"Aaaannnd so it begins," Becker said shaking his head.

Tabby grinned and stepped round Becker, starting to walk round the back of the car. Becker turned and saw that Jess had got out of the car and was standing by the boot, and that's who Tabby was heading for. He swallowed nervously.

"Hi, I'm Tabitha," Tabby said, holding out her hand to Jess who, Becker was slightly surprised to see, looked completely calm and collected.

She reached out and shook Tabby's hand, smiling. "Jess. Jess Parker," she said. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too," Tabby said. She looked over her shoulder and gave Becker another smirk. "Surprising, but nice."

"Tabby..." Becker said warningly.

Tabby laughed and turned back to Jess. "I'm sorry, but if I'd had to lay odds on Hil bringing a _girlfriend_ with him to this wedding, it would have been about a thousand to one," she told her.

"Thanks," Becker grumbled while Jess grinned.

"Ronny practically had a heart attack," Tabby said as Becker walked over to join the two of them.

Becker chose to ignore that and leant back against the back of the car, folding his arms. "She here yet?"

"No, she's coming up tomorrow afternoon, so are Mum and Dad," Tabby said. "Carrie's checked in but she, Francis and Ross have gone to visit friends nearby and won't be back until much later, so you'll probably not see them until the morning."

Becker nodded. "Mindy?"

"She's here. We're all in the Red Room, waiting for you," Tabby said. She gave Jess another smile. "We thought we could all have dinner together in the restaurant."

Becker glanced at Jess, who caught his eye and gave him a small smile. "Sure... we'll get checked in and then come and meet you," he said after a moment.

"Okay," Tabby agreed. She laid a hand on Jess' arm. "Mindy's _really _excited to meet you – she's been talking about nothing else all day," she said.

Jess laughed. "No pressure then," she said with a smile.

Tabby raised an eyebrow. "Mindy's not the one you need to worry about," she said, wiping the smile off of Jess' face. She looked pleased with Jess' reaction, and gave Becker a smug look. "See you in a minute." Then she turned and started to walk back across the car park towards the side entrance of the hotel.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Jess turned to Becker. "Who do I need to worry about?" She whispered.

Becker sighed. "No one," he said. "Ignore her."

"Becker..."

Becker made the mistake of looking at Jess, so he saw the glare she was giving him. He shook his head.

"You can't take any notice of what Tabby says – she loves to stir things up," he told her truthfully.

Jess folded her arms. "Who did she mean?" She demanded.

"Ronnie," Becker said grudgingly. "Ronnie is... well, she acts more like my mother than my mother does. She'll take the most... convincing." He stood up straight and opened the boot to get out their luggage.

"When you say convincing..." Jess said. Becker shrugged.

"She'll ask a lot of questions. Prepare yourself." He looked at Jess, who was biting her lip nervously, and instantly regretted saying anything. He cast around for something to lighten the mood.

"Mindy, on the other hand, will probably start making wedding plans for us the moment she meets you," he said. Jess' eyes widened and Becker realised that that had been a stupid thing to say. Sure, it lightened the mood... by bringing home the awkwardness of their situation. It was true that Mindy _would _be delighted that Becker had 'finally found a special someone' as she would put it, but he expected her excitement over Jess to be completely mortifying for them both, and he was sorry to have brought it up.

Jess cleared her throat and looked away for a moment, but when she looked back she was smiling. "And Millie is one of your nieces?" She asked him.

Becker grinned, grateful for the change of subject. "Yeah. She's eight," he said. "Her little brother Jake is four. Mindy has Todd, Noel and Georgia." Jess nodded, and Becker grinned again. "Georgia's only two – I haven't seen her since she was a few months old."

Becker looked at Jess and saw that she was staring into the boot of the car. Her small (bright pink with blue flowers) suitcase was packed in next to Becker's own suitcase which was black, at least twice as big, and next to another, smaller black case.

Jess raised an eyebrow at him. "I guess you don't believe in packing light..."

Becker lifted the large black case out. "This case has three EMDs in it," he told her as he did so.

Jess gave him a disbelieving look. "You brought EMDs to your sister's wedding?"

Becker gave her a disbelieving look of his own. "Of _course_ I did," he said. "And there's a locking device in that case there."

Jess rolled her eyes. "You really think an anomaly is going to happen while we're here?"

"Knowing my luck, I think it's highly likely," Becker said drily.

"If we were in a TV show, maybe," Jess said with a laugh.

Becker just shook his head. "Look at Jenny's wedding – what were the odds of that?"

Jess nodded. "True," she said. She gave him a very direct look. "You're on your own with Lester, though, if someone finds them."

Becker grinned at that and lifted the other two cases out of the boot. The gentleman in him wanted to take all of them, but Jess picked up her own case straight away and he had another two to deal with, he let it go. He locked his car and the two of them headed across the car park and round to the front entrance of the hotel.

_To be continued..._


	4. Chapter 4

SORRY for the long wait! Thanks once again for the reviews for the latest chapter, you guys are great.

I can't believe this chapter got so long... once again I haven't written everything I intended to be in this chapter – once I got to 3000 words I figured it was long enough! This story really is shaping up to be a mammoth :-S

**Chapter Four**

Jess felt like her eyes were out on stalks as she followed Becker through the hotel up to their room. She'd never in all her life been anywhere so fancy. Dark wood panelled the walls and every single piece of furniture was an antique. The floors of the lobby were made of different coloured, highly polished wood inlaid together to make intricate patterns, and her heels sank into the thick burgundy carpets on the sweeping mahogany staircase.

Becker had checked them in at the front desk (which was also mahogany), and the two of them made their way up to the first floor, where their suite was located. Jess had seen some pictures of the rooms on the hotel's website, so she was slightly prepared for the sheer opulence, but it was still a sight to behold.

For a start, the room was huge. Mahogany flooring throughout, with thick rugs here and there. There was a fireplace with a huge squashy sofa in front of it. Another two sofas were in a corner in front of bay windows, with a couple of armchairs. The walls were hung with gilded cream paper and ornate picture frames, and one of the walls was covered in dark wood panelling. And then there was the bed. It was set back in a recess which was basically another room, just without a dividing wall. It was king-size (at least) and a four-poster, hung with deep red crushed velvet drapes.

Jess let go of the handle of her suitcase and stared. "Wow," she said.

Becker closed the door behind them and stopped next to her.

"Well, it looks like I get a choice of which sofa to sleep on," he said.

"You don't have to do that," Jess said. Becker raised an eyebrow at her and she immediately went red as she realised what that sounded like. "I mean that it doesn't necessarily have to be _you_ that has the sofa – we can flip a coin or something, or take turns..."

Becker narrowed his eyes at her and folded his arms, and after a few moments Jess threw her hands up, conceding defeat. "Fine!" She said. "Be a martyr." She grabbed her suitcase again and wheeled it across the room to the gigantic bed, and lifted it up onto the mattress, claiming it as hers. That done, she gave Becker a pointed look – he just smirked a little and crouched down to unzip his gigantic black suitcase.

Jess had a look around the bedroom part of the suite – it was entirely carpeted with a thick red carpet that matched the drapes on the bed. There were bedside tables on both sides of the bed, with separate lamps, and on the wall were light switches to control all of the lights in the suite. The thick duvet on the bed had a cream silk cover shot through with swirling patterns of the same red. There were chocolates on the pillows.

There were two doors leading off of the room, on each side of the bed. She opened one and had a look in – it was a marble bathroom, with a claw-footed roll-top bath, two sinks and separate shower. She shook her head and closed the door again. The other door was to a walk-in closet/ dressing room which was almost as big as Jess' bedroom at home. There were two large wardrobes and two chests of drawers, a dressing table, two chairs and a full-length mirror.

"We'll have to unpack after dinner," Becker said from right behind her, making Jess jump out of her skin – he could sure move silently on those thick carpets. Jess turned to face him and he gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

Jess looked down and saw he was carrying two shiny EMD cases. "What are you going to do with those?" She asked him.

"I was thinking wardrobe," he said, stepping past her. He pulled open one of the wardrobes and stacked the cases on the shelf at the top, covering them with one of the thick woollen blankets stored up there.

Jess shook her head. "We can _never _tell Lester about this," she said. She frowned. "Does Matt know you have them?"

Becker snorted. "Oh please – he helped me pack them," he said.

Jess rolled her eyes. "Of course he did," she said. Becker smirked and the two of them left the dressing room.

"So – you hungry?" Becker asked.

"Sure," Jess said. "Um, could I freshen up first?"

"Of course," Becker said. He quirked an eyebrow at her. "I'll test the sofas."

Jess smiled. "We're here for three nights – you could rotate them," she said.

Becker smiled back and made his way into the living room area – Jess unzipped her suitcase, pulled out her toiletries bag and took it into the bathroom to freshen her make-up. She had to take a moment in the bathroom to just stare at herself in the mirror and try to forget the surrealism of the situation she was in. She'd met one sister, and now she had to go and meet another, and have dinner with half of Becker's family... all of whom thought she was his girlfriend.

Oddly, that wasn't the bit that had her shaking slightly; it was more the fact that Becker was just on the other side of the door, in _their _hotel room. She couldn't stop thinking about the time she'd turned up at his car with Chinese... something she still couldn't quite believe she'd done. Leaving aside the bomb and all of that craziness, those few hours in Becker's car was the most time the two of them had spent alone together.

And now... they were here.

Jess smoothed down the skirt of her short grey dress and gave herself one last assessing look before shaking her head and leaving the bathroom, a big smile plastered on her face. "Okay, ready!" She said brightly.

She had to work hard to keep the smile in place as they made their way back down to the lobby – she kept thinking of things she should know and didn't, things Becker should know about her and didn't... they weren't even holding hands or anything! Should she take his hand? Lord no... she couldn't. But should she?

Jess was snapped out of her panic by a voice calling out to them.

"Hil!"

Jess looked up to see a woman hurrying towards them across the lobby. Unlike Tabby, who had much lighter colouring than Becker, this woman was instantly identifiable as one of his sisters – they had the same colour hair, and though Jess couldn't point out any other similar features, there was definitely something _Beckerish _about her.

Jess glanced at Becker – he had a wary look on his face again, but not as bad as when Tabby had approached them earlier. They kept going down the stairs, and the woman met them at the bottom.

"There you are..." she said when she reached them. She completely ignored Becker, stepping round him to get to Jess. "You must be Jess – I'm Mindy," she said.

Like when she'd come face to face with Tabby, Jess could feel herself rising to the occasion of why she was there. Yes, it was a bit embarrassing for her and Becker... but it would be so much worse for them if his family found out the truth. And it was just so much easier to deal with being around Becker in this completely weird situation when they were with other people. That wasn't to say that a family dinner wasn't going to be _hell _for them... but Jess never backed down from a challenge.

She smiled and held out her hand. "Nice to meet you," she said.

Mindy grinned and, without any warning, pulled Jess into a tight hug. "It's _so good _to meet you, you have no idea!" She said. Jess caught a glimpse of Becker's mortified expression and bit her lip to keep from laughing.

Mindy stepped back, holding Jess at arm's length. "Let me look at you..." she said, scrutinising Jess, who tried not to look too self-conscious as she was studied from head to toe. "Well, you're gorgeous," Mindy said after a few moments, dropping her hands from Jess' shoulders. Finally she turned her attention to Becker. "You're punching way above your weight, Hil," she said.

Becker sighed dramatically. "Hello Mindy," he said forlornly.

Mindy rolled her eyes. "Oh don't give me that wounded tone, you know I'm right," she said. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed Becker on the cheek before turning back to Jess. She grabbed her hand and linked their arms together. "Come and meet the family!"

And with that she started to steer Jess across the lobby.

Jess could do nothing more than concentrate on not slipping over on her heels on the highly-polished floor, but soon she was being led through a mahogany door and into a brightly lit saloon, with low sofas, cherry-wood tables and a small chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The wallpaper, carpets and chairs were all decked out in dark crimson, and Jess made a guess that she had just entered the 'Red Room'.

She'd barely got a glimpse of the room before there was a general cry of "Uncle Hil!" and four children ran towards them. They darted around Jess and Mindy, and threw themselves at Becker, who crouched down to hug them. He fell back as they piled on top of him, laughing, and was lost from view.

Jess started to laugh, and Mindy grinned. "Yeah, you're not going to see him again for a while," she said. She tugged on Jess' arm and pulled her further into the room, not giving Jess the opportunity to observe Becker with his nieces and nephews.

Tabby was sitting on one of red armchairs, a glass in her hand. Two men were sitting on a sofa next to her, and one of them was cradling a sleeping toddler to his chest.

Mindy stopped by the sofa. "Now, Tabby you've met – this is her husband, John," – the man without the baby grinned at her – "and this here is my other half, Ian." He smiled and nodded to her. Mindy put her arm around Jess' shoulders and gave her a squeeze. "This is Hil's Jess," she said.

"Hi," said Jess, trying not to blush at Mindy's description of her.

"Good to meet you, Jess," Ian said, giving her another smile.

John stood up and held out a hand. "Welcome to the family," he said. Jess shook his hand, once again having to fight back a blush at his words. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Um... sure," Jess said. "Gin and tonic?"

"A girl after my own heart," Tabby said, raising her glass – Jess saw that she too was having a gin and tonic.

Jess sat down on an armchair perpendicular to the sofa the men were on, and had a closer look at the baby Ian was holding. It was a girl, with chubby cheeks and soft golden curls – in a word, she was adorable. Jess smiled. "Is this Georgia?" She guessed.

Ian smiled. "Got it in one," he said. "She's out for the count – has the deepest sleep for a two-year-old you've ever seen."

Jess grinned. "She's beautiful," she said. "Hil was saying he hasn't seen her since she was a baby."

"Yeah, we don't see him that often," said Mindy as she sat down next to Ian. "He always seems to be busy with work, and anyway he's been avoiding family reunions since Karen's wedding..."

Tabby snorted into her glass, and she and Mindy exchanged a sly look. Jess bit her lip to keep from laughing, something Tabby was quick to notice.

"From the look on your face I'm guessing he told you about that?" She said with a smirk.

"He might have mentioned something," Jess said.

"We were only trying to help him," Mindy said.

"He needs all the help he can get!" Tabby chimed in, completely seriously.

Ian shook his head. "You two are going to send Jess running if you're not careful," he said to the sisters.

John walked back over then, and handed Jess her drink. "Gin and tonic," he said with a smile.

Jess smiled back. "Thanks," she said.

"Shall we go into dinner? I'm starving," Mindy said.

There were nods and murmured agreements, and everyone started to get up. Jess got to her feet and was quickly joined by Mindy, who took her arm again.

"The restaurant here is incredible, Jess – you _have _to try their guinea fowl," she said as they started across the room.

Jess opened her mouth to answer, but she was distracted by the sight of Becker with his niece and nephews. He hadn't got any further into the room from when they'd run at him – he was now sitting on the floor, and from the looks of it he was being used as a climbing frame. His niece was sitting on his lap, pointing to a piece of paper in her hand and talking a mile a minute as she pointed at it. Becker was nodding as he listened, and trying not to wince as two of his nephews climbed over him. One had got up his back and onto his shoulders, and the other was standing on his leg, and having a shoving match with the one on his back.

Jess burst out laughing. It was just... such a sight. It was one of the cutest things she'd ever seen, of course, but it had to be one of the funniest as well. Becker looked up at the sound of her laughing and gave her a sardonic look, and she grinned at him.

Mindy shook her head. "Okay you three, lay off Uncle Hil – give him a chance to breathe!" She said, letting go of Jess' arm and starting towards the kids. John and Ian headed out of the salon, and Tabby said something to Mindy and then followed them.

Mindy clapped her hands. "Time for dinner guys – aren't you hungry anymore?" She said loudly. The two boys practically fell off Becker and ran towards the door of the room. Tabby rolled her eyes at Jess. "Those are my other two – Todd and Noel. The gruesome twosome." She pulled a face and followed them out of the room.

Jess felt a tap on her side and looked down to see the girl who'd been sitting on Becker's lap a moment ago was now standing next to her. She looked just like Tabby.

"Are you Jess?" She asked.

Jess smiled. "Yes, that's me," she said. "You must be Millie."

Millie nodded. "Uh-huh," she said. "Are you and Uncle Hil going to get married?"

Jess' eyes widened, and she forced herself not to look at Becker. "Um, well... not yet," she said awkwardly. "I'm just his girlfriend."

"Oh." She looked a bit disappointed at the news. "I'm going to be a bridesmaid on Saturday," she said. She gave Jess a very serious look for an eight-year-old. "I'm a _really_ good bridesmaid," she said.

Jess managed not to laugh, but it was close. She nodded. "I bet you are," she said. "What colour is your dress?"

Millie grinned. "Pink! It's my favourite."

Jess grinned back. "It's my favourite too," she said.

Millie turned to look at Becker. "I like her," she said in a decided tone. And with that pronouncement she left the room.

Jess looked up at Becker and the two of them started to laugh. That was when Jess noticed that there was a fourth kid with Becker – a little boy was standing behind him, holding onto the back of his shirt and peering shyly at Jess from over his shoulder. Becker saw Jess looking at him and shifted so he was kneeling. He put an arm around the boy.

"Jake, this is Jess," he said. The little boy – Jake – stared at Jess for a moment before turning to Becker and whispering something in his ear. Becker listened and then started grinning very suddenly. His eyes were twinkling as Jake pulled away, and he nodded to him. "Yes, she is," he said. "Are you gonna say hello?"

Jake shifted closer to Becker but turned to face Jess. "'Lo," he said, very quietly.

Jess smiled. "Hello Jake," she said gently. Jake looked up at her properly for a moment, and Jess' breath caught in her throat. He smiled at her shyly, and Jess was actually too shocked to smile back properly. Then he too hurried out of the room, leaving Jess alone with Becker.

Jess stared after Jake for a moment before turning back to Becker. "He looks _just_ like you," she said.

"Everyone says that," Becker said as he stood up, shrugging.

"He does!" Jess exclaimed. "It's the eyes. And the smile – not that we see your smile very much," she said teasingly. Becker rolled his eyes, and Jess grinned. "But seriously, he really does look like you."

"Who looks like who?" Tabby asked, wondering back into the room.

"Whom," said Becker immediately. His sister gave him a withering look, and he smirked at her.

Jess laughed at the exchange. "I was saying that Jake looks like Hil," she told Tabby. "He has his eyes."

"Oh, I know," said Tabby. "Our Dad's eyes." She gave Jess a smile and the three of them made their way out of the saloon and back into the lobby. "Wait until you meet our Dad – it's like seeing what Hil will look like in forty years' time," Tabby said.

Jess looked at Becker for confirmation, and he shrugged. "I'll be in better shape," he said.

"I hope so, for Jess' sake," Tabby said, giving Becker a suggestive smirk. Jess immediately went red, but luckily for her Tabby didn't look at her – they'd reached the entrance to the restaurant and she went in.

Jess went to follow but was prevented by a hand on her elbow. She turned back to Becker to find him a lot closer than she'd expected. She held her breath as he leant down towards her.

"I'm sorry in advance for this dinner," he said in a quiet, earnest voice. He stood up straight again, and Jess was able to breathe again.

She took a much-needed breath and smiled at him. He smiled back and they walked through the door together.

_To be continued..._


	5. Chapter 5

I am so, so sorry for the long wait for this update. I was waiting to get up to 100 reviews before posting this... only kidding, I actually hate it when people do that. The real reason is that this chapter is a real transition chapter, and I HATE writing those. It's all talk talk talk, and nothing really happens, but it's needed before moving on to more interesting stuff. Speaking of, I will try very very hard to post new chapters soon.

Anyway, I'm not very happy with this chapter, but I am ECSTATIC that I've finally got it posted! Thank you so much for the reviews for the previous chapters, and for the messages asking for an update – please let me know what you think of this instalment.

**Chapter Five**

One of the many reasons Becker loved his nieces and nephews was for their early bedtimes – it meant that he and Jess were allowed to head back to their room straight after dinner as his sisters and their husbands were too busy dealing with the kids to demand their company. God bless the kids.

Saying that, dinner had gone surprisingly well. Again, having the kids present had diffused a lot of the possible dangers, as they'd kept up a near-constant stream of chatter and left little time for his sisters to quiz him and Jess. Amazingly, they'd been able to answer all of the questions they did ask really easily. Coupled with their easy escape, Becker counted it as a good result.

He gave Jess a grateful smile as he closed the door of their suite behind him.

"That went okay I thought," he said.

Jess gave him a disbelieving look. "You're kidding, right?"

Becker blinked at her. "What?"

"That was a _disaster_," Jess stated firmly.

Becker frowned, genuinely confused. "It went fine..."

"It was the most embarrassing two hours of my life!" Jess exclaimed.

Jess was standing in the middle of their hotel suite glaring at him; Becker stared at her for a moment before sighing. Of course she was embarrassed – this was a stupid idea in the first place. "I'm sorry," he said. "I should never have asked you to do this..."

Jess rolled her eyes. "I wasn't embarrassed because I was pretending to be your girlfriend – I was _embarrassed_ because they obviously didn't believe us!"

That threw Becker, and he took a couple of steps towards Jess. "What makes you think that?" He asked her.

Jess gave him a sardonic look. "Were you even _at_ that dinner?" She asked him.

Becker bristled slightly at her sarcastic tone. "Jess! What are you talking about?" He exclaimed. "We answered all their questions, we stuck to our back story... why wouldn't they believe us?"

Jess folded her arms. "Have you had a girlfriend before?" She asked him. Becker gaped at her, thinking she was joking, but she looked deadly serious. "You can tell me, if you haven't –"

"I _have_," Becker said firmly.

Jess pursed her lips, looking like she didn't believe him. "Did you touch them?"

Becker's eyes flew wide open at the question, but he quickly realised what Jess meant as she ploughed on.

"You know, hold their hand, put your arm around them, _act like they existed_?"

Jess paused, waiting for an answer. Her eyes were flashing angrily and her cheeks were slightly flushed – Becker had never seen her so worked up before. He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, feeling like a naughty schoolboy.

"You think I wasn't affectionate enough with you," he said eventually.

Jess let out a disbelieving laugh. "Becker, you barely even _looked _at me the entire dinner," she said. "You were so tense I thought you were going to snap, and every time I said anything you looked like you were in _pain_."

Becker thought back to the dinner, scrutinising his behaviour, and had to admit that Jess had a point. He _had_ been on edge, worried that she or he would slip up, but he'd thought he'd hidden it well... apparently not. As he stood there gaping at Jess, though, wondering what to say, her angry expression suddenly melted away. Her eyes darted away and she bit her lip as she shifted from ridiculously high heel to ridiculously high heel, looking much more like the Jess Becker was used to.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't get so worked up," she said. She gave him a sheepish look. "I just... I really don't want them to find out the truth. It would be _so _embarrassing." She gave Becker a smile, which he returned warily.

Jess shrugged and chuckled a little. "Also, I tend to get a bit too... well, when I set out to do something, it has to be done right," she said.

Becker's smile widened. "You're a perfectionist," he said. It was something he'd always known about her, and in a field situation it was a valuable asset... but in this situation he could see how she could get frustrated with him.

"Ridiculously so," Jess agreed with him, smiling.

Becker nodded. "I'm sorry – I'll make more of an effort," he promised.

Jess smiled again, and leant back against the back of the sofa next to her. "You just need to relax... we both do," she said. She looked away again nervously, shrugging. "I mean, we've never really spent any time together outside of work," she said. "So this isn't the most natural of situations to be in."

Becker nodded. "True," he said. He felt like he knew Jess quite well... kind of... but she was right – outside of work they very rarely spent time together, and when they did it was in a group. He gave her a sheepish look. "So what do you suggest?"

Jess gave him a small smile. "Well we have tonight," she said. "Maybe we should... hang out."

Becker tried not notice how adorable she looked just then, looking at him with equal parts embarrassment and hope, and smiled back. "We do have a suite," he said.

Jess grinned and stood up straight again. She looked around thoughtfully. "Shame it doesn't have a TV – we could have watched a film or something," she said.

Becker was confused for a moment before he realised he hadn't had time to show Jess the suite's _piece de resistance_. He grinned and walked across the suite – past Jess and over to the coffee table, on which sat a remote control. He looked at Jess to make sure she was paying attention, and then pointed it at the panelled wall. A press of a button later and the section of the wall directly above the fireplace slid out and to both sides with a quiet whirring sound. It revealed, set into the wall, a 32 inch plasma screen. Two shelves of DVDs sat underneath it, nestled among a DVD player and a Sky box.

Becker smirked as Jess' jaw dropped at the sight. She looked at him, seemingly lost for words, and his smirk widened.

"I'll let you pick the film," he said, gesturing to the shelves.

Jess blinked, shaking her head. "Such a gentleman," she quipped after a moment. Becker just smirked again and folded his arms as he watched her wander over to the entertainment centre.

Jess ran her fingers over the DVD cases, reading the titles. "Ooh, _The Sound of Music_!" She exclaimed after a moment. Becker's smirk was instantly replaced with a stricken look, but relaxed when Jess threw a teasing look over her shoulder. He glared at her and she grinned, carrying on her perusal.

"_Thelma and Louise_... _Sex and the City..._"

Becker rolled his eyes and sat down on the sofa facing the TV, refusing to rise to the bait. After a moment, though, Jess stopped suddenly and her hand darted out to snatch a case off the shelf._ "_We have a winner!" She exclaimed, turning to face him, her eyes shining with excitement. Becker looked down at the DVD in her hand – it was _Jurassic Park_.

Becker gave her a disbelieving look. "You've _got _to be kidding," he said.

"Nope!" Jess said, and she immediately turned away to put the DVD in the machine. Becker let his head fall back against the cushions behind him, knowing it was useless to argue. That didn't stop him from giving Jess a disgruntled look when she glanced back at him.

Jess rolled her eyes. "You know you love it," she said, practically skipping over to join him on the sofa. She kicked off her heels and tucked her feet under her, grabbed the remote off of him and turned her attention to starting the film.

Becker only made it ten minutes into the film before he couldn't resist commenting on her choice. "I can't believe we're watching this," he said.

Jess smirked – she'd obviously been waiting for him to say something. "Maybe we'll pick up some tips," she said.

"What, like _don't turn off the electric fence keeping in the dinosaurs_? Got it," Becker said dryly.

Jess grinned and turned back to the film. "So who's who?" She said. "Connor is clearly Tim."

"Is that the kid?" Becker asked. Jess nodded and Becker nodded too. "Yeah, I see that. You're his sister."

"What? No I'm not!" She exclaimed, looking affronted for some reason.

"Yes you are – she's the computer expert, she saves them all at the end by doing computer things," Becker said – it was obvious.

Jess pulled a face. "But she's so _annoying_, she just screams all the time!"

Becker laughed. "I think the screaming is excusable given the situations she's in," he said.

Jess pursed her lips, not looking very impressed. "Abby's the woman scientist person," she said after a moment.

"Yeah," Becker agreed. "And Cutter is Sam Neill. Was."

Jess smiled suddenly, looking like she wanted to laugh. "You're the crazy Australian guy," she said.

Becker glared at her. "I so am not! He's crazy," he protested.

Jess shrugged, looking very smug. "He's their head of security," she said. "He has big guns."

Becker rolled his eyes. "If anything, I'm the T-Rex," he said.

Jess laughed. "What?"

Becker shrugged. "The T-Rex is clearly the best character in the film... so logically..."

Jess laughed again. "It's a good thing you're modest," she said sarcastically. She turned back to the film, but frowned a few seconds later and looked back at him. "How is the T-Rex the best character?" She asked.

Becker smirked. "You'll see," he said.

They went back to watching the film in silence, and Becker was surprised at how comfortable the silence was. He found himself laughing at the same points of the film Jess did, and enjoying watching her reaction to the scenes. It had been a while since he'd just kicked back and relaxed like this – most of his downtime outside of work was spent worrying about what was going on in the ARC while he wasn't there to oversee it. Being here with Jess made clear to Becker that he spent way too much time by himself; he should be worrying right now, but he wasn't. Well, not much.

They got to the part of the film where Tim was following Sam Neil's character around, asking question after question about dinosaurs.

Becker smirked. "He's definitely Connor," he said.

Jess smiled. "In the book, Tim's older than Lex, and he's the computer genius as well... so he's very like Connor," she said.

Becker gave her a surprised look. "You've read the book?"

"Sure, I love Michael Crichton," Jess said. She shrugged. "It's really geeky, because his books are really scientific, but they're so clever. _Jurassic_ _Park_ is brilliant, but my favourite is _Timeline_. It's about a group of archaeologists who go back in time to medieval France."

Becker chuckled. "Sarah would have liked that," he said ruefully.

Jess was silent for a moment, before she gave him a small smile. Becker smiled back, suddenly remembering the conversation they'd had about the old team all those months ago, when he'd told her she could ask him anything about them. At the time he'd had to force himself to talk to her without betraying the pain he still felt at their loss, but that wasn't the case anymore. But she hadn't really spoken to him about the old team since Connor and Abby had got back... Becker assumed she was able to direct all her questions to them instead.

"I couldn't believe she did that, when I read that report," Jess said suddenly. Becker pulled himself back to the present and realised she was talking about Sarah. Jess smiled. "You must have given her a right talking to."

Becker quirked an eyebrow. "I didn't actually," he said. "None of us did."

Jess frowned, and Becker shrugged. "It was different, it was... before what happened," he tried to explain. The look on Jess' face told him she understood. Though he'd always been wary of the anomalies, he'd always been more concerned with things coming through to them than the dangers of them going through themselves. His little trip to the future had started to change his mind, and then three of his team disappearing for a year had driven the point home.

"It was different then," he said. "I came to the ARC straight off a tour of Afghanistan, and I let myself be... unmilitarised... by the team."

Jess raised an eyebrow at him. "I can't see you not being as military as you are," she said.

Becker shrugged. "Maybe that's not the way to put it," he said. "But the rules were definitely laxer, and I didn't do anything about it. One of the reasons Lester managed to get me to come back was by telling me that things would be different."

"You came back because the rules were stricter."

"Partly." Becker smiled, and Jess smiled back.

"Well, I'm glad you did."

"Me too."

They smiled once more before turning back to the TV.

_To be continued..._


	6. Chapter 6

A/N – Once again, sorry for the delay. I cut this chapter a lot shorter than it was going to be... I was writing it and realising it was going to end up being about 7,000 words long, so I decided to cut it. Also, by cutting it I could post it now instead of keeping you guys waiting until next week (very busy weekend ahead... sorry!)

Anyway, hope you like. Thanks for the reviews. :-)

**Chapter Six**

Becker had once slept on the back of a broken-down truck on the edge of a Taliban-controlled region of Afghanistan, with only a handgun and a piece of tarpaulin for protection, so he generally didn't have much trouble dropping off in a new environment. The sofa he picked to sleep on in the suite was definitely more comfortable than that truck had been, and the blanket was a lot softer than the tarpaulin.

Still, it took him a long time to fall asleep. He lay in the dark suite, staring at the ceiling and listening to Jess' soft breathing as he went over the events of the day in his head. He had to hand it to Jess – she really had stepped up to the challenge. He should have expected nothing less, really; above all else, she was a perfectionist. She hated being wrong, or being made to look stupid... so basically he couldn't have put her in a _worse _position. Or acted so stupidly himself. Now that he thought of it, thought about what Jess had practically yelled at him once they were alone, he realised that the way he'd behaved at dinner _had_ almost given them away. If it hadn't been for Jess' quick thinking and exceptional acting skills, the game might have been up within an hour of them arriving.

But the rest of the evening, once they'd extricated themselves from his family... well, that had actually been kind of fun. Like Jess had said, they'd never really spent that much time together outside of work, not that Becker hadn't thought about what it would be like.

He would be the first to admit that he was pretty slow when it came to women, but even he could see that Jess had... a thing for him. At first, Becker had found it kind of sweet, then a little bit uncomfortable, and then, god help him, he'd started to... well... feel feelings. The problem was he _couldn't _feel feelings – he just couldn't. Too much depended on him being completely dedicated to his job. And aside from that, he really did care about Jess, and considering his terrible track record with relationships and the stresses of their job, the chances of the two of them lasting were slim. Becker knew he wasn't what Jess needed, knew that he would end up hurting her in the long run. He couldn't – _wouldn't_ – do that.

So they'd never really spent time together until now – kind of by design. Becker had tried to keep things professional between them. He slipped up sometimes – she was just so... so _Jess _sometimes that it was hard to resist her. Also, he found it a bit more difficult to hide how he felt when she was in danger, which was far more often than he liked.

And him asking her to pretend to be his girlfriend was also a bit of a blip in his plan to stay detached.

He shouldn't have done it – he just hadn't been able to think of anything, or anyone, else. He'd actually felt very guilty about asking her at all, since he'd known she'd say yes. He'd felt like a complete lowlife, using her crush on him to his advantage, but now that they were here and he'd been reminded of what harpies his sisters were, he was really glad Jess was by his side.

He finally fell asleep promising himself that he would do everything in his power not to let Jess down.

He woke up with the sun the next day, as was usual for him. He'd left the curtains of the suite open a crack to allow the light in, and a single shaft of sunlight was creeping across the floorboards when he opened his eyes. He lay still for a few minutes, thinking of the day ahead and how awful it was going to be, before standing up and stretching. He almost dropped down to the floor to start his morning exercise routine before a slight snuffling sound drew him up short.

Jess. She was still asleep, and he didn't want to wake her up, so he crept as quietly as he could to the bathroom. It was still very dark around the bed as there weren't any windows in that part of the room, and Becker could just make out a shape on the bed that was clearly Jess. He ducked into the bathroom, closed the door behind him and then turned on the light. He managed to remember to turn the light off again before exiting a few minutes later, and also to close the door of the dressing room on the other side of the bed before turning the light on in there, but once he had changed into joggers, a t-shirt and trainers he didn't have quite the same level of consideration. He opened the door without thinking, and light from the dressing room spilled out across the bed.

Becker froze, expecting Jess to wake up, but she just frowned slightly and slept on. He reached back to turn the light off but paused for a moment, taking in the sight of her sleeping. She was lying on her back with one arm flung above her head and her face turned towards him. She looked so young with her face relaxed in sleep, and the bright pink strappy top and pyjama shorts she was wearing didn't exactly strike a mature theme either.

But she'd pushed the quilt down at some point during the night, leaving it pooled around her hips. Her top had ridden up slightly, exposing her flat midriff, and the neck of her top was slightly askew, presenting Becker with a little more cleavage than he usually saw on Jess. He swallowed, and was actually kind of relieved when she shifted slightly and opened her eyes – at least it prompted him to stop staring.

"Hi – sorry," he said in a low voice, pulling the door a little more shut behind him to get the light out of her eyes.

"S'okay," Jess said, her voice heavy with sleep. "What you doing?"

"I was just going to go for a run."

Jess nodded and reached up to run a hand through her hair. She sat up slightly and yawned. "What time is it?"

"About six thirty."

Jess' eyes widened. "_Six thirty_?" She repeated incredulously. She glared at him and then reached down to yank the duvet up over her head as she flopped back down on the bed. She turned away from Becker under the covers, and though her voice was muffled he distinctly heard her mutter "_soldiers_" under her breath.

Becker grinned, turned off the light of the dressing room, and headed out for a morning run.

XXXXX

When Jess woke up properly an hour later the sunlight had crept its way almost over to the bed, and Becker was still gone. She smiled ruefully at the thought of him going for a run at dawn – somehow she wasn't surprised. She wasn't exactly a slattern in the mornings, but she drew the line at going for a run at 6.30am.

After she'd used the bathroom and felt a bit more human, Jess pulled open the curtains and let the light flood into the suite. It was a beautiful day, a few clouds but nothing that looked like rain. Jess stood by the window looking out over the grounds that she'd been unable to see in the darkness of the night before. At least five acres of landscaped gardens sloped out before her, and beyond the ivy-clad walls of the garden were more wild gardens and forested areas which Jess knew also belonged to the hotel. She walked over to the other window and looked out over the car park. There were a dozen or so cars parked on the gravel outside, all of them flashy and ridiculously expensive – Becker's car didn't look at all out of place.

Jess shook her head. Becker was a secretly rich car enthusiast – who knew?

Jess turned away from the window and saw Becker's bedding from the night before. Being the good little soldier that he was, he had neatly folded the blanket at the end of the sofa, and his pillows were stacked at the other end of the sofa. Jess picked up all of it and took it back to the dressing room – it would be all they needed for one of his sisters to walk into their suite and see evidence that the two of them weren't sharing a bed.

She'd acted not a moment too soon, because the second she stepped out of the dressing room there was a knock on the door. Becker would have taken his key with him, she was sure, so that meant it must be one of his sisters. Jess quickly rumpled up the covers on the bed a little more in a last-ditch attempt to make it look like two people had slept in it, and then hurried to open the door.

It was Becker's niece, Millie. She was wearing a very sweet yellow-tee and pedal-pusher ensemble, a pink bow clipped into her hair and big grin on her face. She had a Hannah Montana cloth bag over one shoulder and was clutching a piece of paper in her hand – Jess guessed it was a new picture she'd drawn for Becker.

Jess smiled down at her. "Good morning, Millie," she said.

"Good morning! Is Uncle Hil here?" Millie asked, trying to peer round Jess to see into the room.

Jess opened the door wider as she shook her head. "No, I'm sorry Millie – he's not here right now," she said.

Millie's face fell, but before she could say anything Tabby rounded the corner, pulling Jake along by the hand. "Millie!" She scolded. "I told you to _wait for me_."

"Mummy, Uncle Hil's not here," Millie said, completely ignoring the fact she'd been told off.

Tabby looked at Jess then, and raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" She said. "Where is he?"

Jess met her eyes and forced herself to smile, even though she knew what Tabby was implying with her question. Last night at dinner, Jess had got a very strong feeling that Tabby hadn't believed their ruse. Mindy had obviously bought it hook line and sinker, not because they were especially convincing but because she was so happy at the thought of Becker having a girlfriend. Tabby, on the other hand, had sat peering at them with suspicious eyes throughout dinner, and Jess had grown more and more uncomfortable with her staring.

"He's gone for a run," Jess said lightly. "Up at the crack of dawn, as per usual."

Tabby smiled back, but her eyes were shrewd and assessing. "Did he wake you up?"

"He tried not to, but yes he did," she said. "Luckily for him, I'm a morning person."

"Hmm."

That was it, just a 'hmm'. She and Becker were really going to have to work hard to regain lost ground with Tabby today.

"But I need to give him my picture!" Millie exclaimed suddenly.

Jess turned the smile on the little girl. "Well I'm sure he won't be long," she said. "Do you want to come in and wait for him?"

"Okay!" Millie said happily, pushing past Jess and running into the suite. Jake tugged on his Mum's hand and peered into the room after her. Jess noticed and smiled at him.

"You can come in too, if you want," she said. She smiled at Tabby. "Both of you."

Jake gave Jess a shy smile, once again displaying the fact he was pretty much a five-year-old version of Becker, and followed his sister into the suite. Jess looked at Tabby expectantly.

Tabby gave Jess a genuine smile this time. "Actually, it would be great if you could watch them for a couple of minutes," she said. "I had to rush to get ready and didn't get a chance to put on any make-up – Millie was out of the door and heading here before I could blink."

Jess grinned. "No problem," she said. Tabby nodded and headed back the way she'd come, leaving Jess alone with the kids.

_TBC_


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry for the wait – here's a very long chapter to hopefully make up for it. :-D

**Chapter Seven**

She closed the door and turned to face them – Millie had made herself comfortable on one of the sofas, and was fiddling with her bag. Jake was hovering by the sofa nearest the door, one hand on the back of it and staring at her with his big hazel Becker eyes. When she looked at him he gave her another shy smile, and she smiled back, gesturing for him to follow her to sit down by his sister.

"So what did you draw for Uncle Hil?" Jess asked her. "Can I see?"

"Okay!" Millie exclaimed. She held up the paper she held and Jess took it carefully. It was a picture of a man, one step up from stick figure, and what looked like a big dog. There was a tree as well.

"It's lovely, I bet Uncle Hil will love it," Jess said with a smile. "He put the drawing you gave him yesterday on the table over there, see?"

Millie looked over where Jess was pointing and grinned hugely at the sight of her drawing on display on the table by the door. "Do you want to see another one?" She said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a drawing pad. She flipped it open and showed Jess a half-coloured-in picture on the first page. It was of a ship, and a wavy blue line at the bottom of the page denoted the sea. There was a man on the deck of the ship, wearing a very big hat.

"Ooh, a pirate ship?" Jess guessed.

"Yep!" Millie said. She pointed to the man on the deck. "That's Uncle Hil."

Jess grinned. "Is he a pirate?" It wasn't an entirely repulsive image…

"Yeah – 'coz he's a Captain," Millie said matter-of-factly.

Jess had to fight back the urge to burst out laughing. Then she felt a small hand on her knee and looked to see that Jake had sidled up next to her. He gave her another shy smile, and Jess smiled back. She patted the seat next to her, and he climbed up and settled in against her.

Jess looked back at Millie. "I bet he'll love that too," she told her, "but you know, Uncle Hil is in the army, so he doesn't get to go on ships."

Millie frowned. "He doesn't? But he's a Captain!"

"I know – it's different," Jess said. "A Captain is a special name for someone who's in charge of something. People who are in charge of a ship are called Captains, but Uncle Hil doesn't have a ship."

"What's he in charge of, then?"

"He's in charge of lots of soldiers," Jess told her. "And he's in charge of keeping everyone safe where we work. If someone gets in trouble, your Uncle Hil helps them."

Millie smiled proudly. "Mummy says Uncle Hil is a hero," she said.

Jess smiled too, and wondered if Tabby had ever told Becker that herself. She guessed not. "That's right, he is," she said.

"Should I draw a picture of him with lots of other soldiers?" Millie asked, turning to a new page in her pad and rummaging in her bag for a pencil.

Jess grinned. "You know what, why don't you draw him with a dinosaur?" She suggested. "You Uncle Hil _loves _dinosaurs."

"I love dinosaurs!" Jake suddenly piped up. Jess looked down at him, and saw his eyes were shining with excitement.

"What's your favourite kind of dinosaur?" Jess asked him.

"I like raptors," Jake said at once. "They're really cool."

Jess begged to differ, but she refrained from telling Jake so. "They are pretty cool," she said instead. "But I like the nicer ones – have you ever heard of a diictodon?"

Jake nodded. "They dig tunnels!" He announced.

Jess nodded back, surprised by his knowledge. "That's right," she said. "Well, I like them."

"I like T-Rexes as well," Jake said. "They're really cool too, like raptors, but really big."

Jess grinned, remembering Becker explaining to her the night before that the T-Rex is clearly the best character in _Jurassic Park_ because it fights the raptors at the end and helps the humans escape the island. _Like uncle like nephew._

"Do you like dinosaurs, Millie?" Jess asked the little girl.

"No," she said promptly, her head bent over her pad. "But I'll draw one for Uncle Hil."

There was a knock on the door. "It's open!" Jess called, and a moment later Tabby poked her head round the door.

"Everything okay in here?" She asked, walking into the room.

"Fine," Jess told her with a smile. "Millie was showing me her pictures and I was talking to Jake about dinosaurs."

Tabby rolled her eyes fondly. "_Don't _get him started," she said with a smile.

"Mummy, Jess says Uncle Hil doesn't have a ship," Millie said.

Tabby frowned. "Of course he doesn't, why would he have a ship?"

"He's a _Captain_!"

Tabby grinned. "Yeah, but only in the army, you need to be in the navy to have a ship," she said. "And Uncle Hil isn't nearly cool enough to have his own _ship_…"

Jess frowned, a little surprised that Tabby would say something like that, but a moment later Becker walked through the open door of the hotel room – clearly she'd seen he was about to enter, and was just trying to wind him up.

He was rolling his eyes already. "Well… good morning," he said drily. "To what do I owe this displeasure?"

Tabby grinned. "Just collecting my offspring," she said.

Becker looked over at Jess for the first time and raised an eyebrow at the sight of her with his niece and nephew either side of her. He was shining with sweat and his t-shirt was clinging to his torso – in short, he looked delicious.

Jess grinned at him. "Hi," she said. "Good run?"

"Yeah, I – "

Millie jumped off the sofa and ran over to him. "Uncle Hil! Look, I drew you this! Look!" She waved her paper at him until he took it from her.

"Thanks sweetheart," he said, smiling. "Is that me?"

"Uh-huh. And that's a bear!"

Becker raised an eyebrow again. "Why a bear?"

"I like bears!"

Becker nodded solemnly. "Well, it's a very good bear," he said. He carefully put the picture down next to the other one, earning himself a big smile from his niece. Jess watched the entire exchange with a smile.

He looked over at her when he was done with the picture and gave her a teasing look. "Finally awake I see," he said airily.

Jess' smile widened. When he'd walked in to find Tabby and the kids in the room, she'd had a moment of worry that he would be back to the awkward, uncomfortable Becker of last night's dinner… but he seemed to be perfectly at ease – or he was acting that way at least, which was good enough.

"_Finally_ indeed," she retorted. "_Normal _people don't rise with the sun."

Becker grinned and glanced at Tabby before starting to walk towards her. Jess wasn't sure what he planned to do – she didn't know if he was planning on hugging her, or kissing her on the cheek, or even if he was just going to sit down. What she knew for sure was that even if he was acting at ease, a sudden display of affection after last night was just going to look forced. So she held up both hands to stop his advance.

"Don't even think about coming near me before you have a shower," she said sternly. Becker stopped suddenly a few feet away from her, and gave her a puzzled look. He had his back to Tabby by now, so luckily she didn't see it.

She did, however, give Jess a sly look. "What? Don't you like him sweaty?" She asked her.

Becker looked a bit panicked, but Jess just smiled sweetly. "Hil, I think your sister wants a hug," she said to him.

Becker grinned and started towards Tabby with his arms wide open. Tabby fled for the door. "Don't you dare!" She shrieked as she ran. Jess started laughing, and Becker stopped by the other sofa, laughing as well. Tabby gave him a disgruntled look before gesturing to the kids. "Come on you two, let's go get breakfast."

Millie skipped over to the sofa to collect her drawing things. "Are you coming, Uncle Hil?" She asked Becker once she had her bag on her shoulder.

Becker shook his head with a smile. "Not yet – you heard Jess, I need to have a shower first," he told her.

Millie's face fell a little bit, but she nodded. "Oh, okay," she said, before heading across the room to join her Mum.

Jake slid off the sofa and turned to Jess expectantly. "Are you coming to breakfast?" He asked her.

She smiled. "In a minute," she told him. "I need to change my clothes – I can't eat breakfast in my pyjamas."

"I eat breakfast in my pyjamas," Jake said innocently.

Jess grinned. "Only at home, though, right?"

Jake thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah," he conceded.

Jake hurried over to join his Mum, and she shepherded him and his sister out of the room. She called a 'see you later' out and then closed the door behind her, leaving Becker and Jess alone.

They looked at each other silently for a moment, before Becker shifted awkwardly and broke the silence. "Everything okay?" He asked her.

Jess nodded. "Yeah – sorry about that, I just think we need to be careful around Tabby," she said.

Becker frowned. "But you said I need to be more affectionate…"

Jess chose to ignore the way her cheeks started to flush. "You do, but Tabby is definitely suspicious after last night, and I think if you start being _too_ affectionate she's going to get even more suspicious…" Jess bit her lip. "This is getting pretty complicated, isn't it?"

Becker gave a hollow laugh. "Yeah… maybe you should just be in charge of levels of affection," he said. "I'll follow your lead."

Jess raised her eyebrow. "Now there's an offer," she said, before she could stop herself.

Becker's eyebrows shot up, and Jess ducked her head to hide her blush. There was another moment's silence.

"Sorry about waking you up this morning," Becker said eventually.

"It's alright," Jess said, grateful for the change of subject. "Did you have a good run?"

Becker nodded. "Yeah – I lapped round the grounds a couple of times," he told her. "They have this wooded area I'd forgotten about, it's quite a nice drive... we could go out there for a drive after breakfast, if you want."

Jess smirked. "This is just an excuse to drive faster than seventy isn't it?" She teased.

Becker shrugged. "That, and escape my sisters," he said, his eyes twinkling.

"Sure, sounds nice," Jess said. Then she gave him a stern look. "But first you _really do _need to shower."

XXX

Jess was completely right about the drive being an excuse for Becker to drive fast. The track that Becker was talking about was practically a racing track – when pressed he actually admitted that they used to use it for dirt car races. It wound through the trees in a lap about two miles long.

He drove round at a sensible speed the first couple of times; he might like driving fast but he wasn't an idiot, and Jess knew he wanted to make sure he knew where he was going before pushing the speed up. They spoke about his family as they drove.

"Millie and Jake are so sweet," Jess said. "And Millie adores you."

"Yeah," Becker chuckled. "Though she'll forget all about me this afternoon – Olivia's arriving, and Livy is Millie's favourite person in the whole world."

"Olivia is your oldest niece, right? Ronnie's daughter?"

"Yep – she's ten, almost eleven," Becker said. "Millie worships her, and Olivia dotes on Millie – she's the little sister she never had."

Jess grinned. "Aw, that's so sweet," she said. "I was kind of like that with my cousins when I was little."

"You used to spoil them?"

"No, I was the youngest, so I was the one being spoiled."

"Of course." Becker smirked at Jess before turning back to the road. "I think you've got an admirer in Jake."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah – he told me he thinks you're pretty," Becker said.

Jess laughed. "Did he? When?"

"Last night, when I was introducing you," Becker told her. "I said 'this is Jess' and he whispered to me that he thinks you're really pretty." Becker gave Jess a teasing smile. "I can't believe I have to compete with my own nephew."

Jess laughed again. "Well you're losing so far – he's much cuter than you are," she told him.

Becker laughed, and Jess looked away, out of the window. She thought back to the night before when she'd met Jake. She remembered the moment Becker was talking about: when he'd told Jake her name, Jake had whispered something to Becker. And Jess remembered Becker's reaction, too – he'd grinned, and said 'yes, she is'.

_Yes, she is_.

Jess bit her lip to stop herself grinning like a schoolgirl.

They'd gone the track a couple of times by now, and Becker was starting to speed up. Jess gave him a sardonic look which he clearly took as a challenge – up went his eyebrow and down went his foot.

Becker drove his posh car like a bat out of hell, but Jess never felt unsafe – he was such a good driver. In fact, the speed was thrilling. They went round twice, the second lap beating the first by almost ten seconds, and Becker swerved to a halt near a break in the trees that gave them a beautiful view of the back of the hotel.

They looked at each other and laughed, and Becker shook his head. "I want a race track," he said.

Jess grinned. "And a tank, and a grenade launcher and a – what was the latest one? Oh yes – a spy plane."

"That would be really useful and you know it," Becker said – Jess knew he was only half-joking, and she laughed again.

Becker reached for the ignition again, and Jess leant forward. "Can I have a go?"

He looked round at her, obviously confused. "Excuse me?"

"Can I do a lap?"

Becker actually laughed at her. "Oh god... _no_," he said immediately.

Jess couldn't help but feel defensive at his reaction. "I'm a good driver you know," she said hotly.

Becker shook his head. "Don't care," he said dismissively. "No one drives this car but me. Especially on a track like this."

Jess rolled her eyes. "I won't _race _the car round... not everyone feels your need to drive at at least ninety-five miles an hour," she said. Becker just gave her an unimpressed look, and Jess sighed. "I'll just drive it back up to the main avenue and back to the hotel," she said by way of a compromise. "Slowly."

"_No_," Becker said tersely.

Jess pursed her lips. "You realise I could make your life hell here, right?" She said.

"Jess," Becker said, looking and sounding incredibly patronising. "The worst you could do is tell my sisters the truth, and I _know _you. You wouldn't do that."

"You're right, I wouldn't," Jess agreed. "But that's not the worst thing I could do."

Becker folded his arms. "Oh really?"

Jess smirked. "Let's see... I could come up with a nickname for you," she said. "Something really embarrassing, like..."

"Hilly-Billy-Cuddle-Bub?"

Jess blinked. "What?"

Becker raised an eyebrow. "That was my sisters' nickname for me during my teens," he said matter-of-factly. "Next threat. Or should I say empty threat?" He was starting to smirk a bit now, and Jess needed to wipe it off his face.

"I could start talking about our sex life," she said. "You know, and the... er... problems."

Becker's smirk faltered slightly, but he didn't react otherwise – perhaps he knew that Jess would be far too embarrassed to have a conversation like that with his sisters.

So Jess smirked instead as it came to her. "And then of course, tomorrow I could catch the bouquet," she said with an air of triumph.

As she'd known he would, Becker immediately gave her a look of wide-eyed panic. "You wouldn't," he said quietly.

Jess smiled and leant forward, closer to him. "I totally would."

Becker shook his head. "No, you don't understand," he said wildly. "My sisters take that stuff really seriously. Ronnie caught the bouquet at her friend Hannah's wedding, and she and Dave got engaged a week later!"

Jess mentally thanked Mindy for sharing that little anecdote with her the night before, and gave Becker a sweet smile. "How romantic," she said. She had him, and she knew it. He knew that if she wanted to catch the bouquet, she would – and that if Carrie was anything like her sisters she would probably throw it right at her anyway. And if she caught it… well, he'd never hear the end of it.

Becker gave her a pleading look. "_Jessica_."

Jess raised an eyebrow at him. "_Hilary._"

There was a moment of silent warfare before Becker turned away. "Urgh!" He exclaimed as he threw open his door. Jess grinned and jumped out of the car as well, hurrying round to the other side. She met Becker in front of the car, and he glared down at her.

"If you so much as _scratch_ this car, I will lock you in the menagerie," he told her menacingly.

Jess was far from menaced. "Talk about empty threats..." She said. Becker kept glaring, and Jess rolled her eyes and stepped past him. "I won't hurt your car!" She said, darting for the front seat. Becker hurried round to the passenger side and slid in just as Jess reached down to adjust her seat.

Becker honest-to-god moaned at the sight of her sliding the seat forward a few inches. Jess gave him a sardonic look. "It goes back as well, you know."

Becker didn't say anything, but Jess saw him grit his teeth as she went to turn the key in the ignition. She rolled her eyes – he was taking all the fun out of this for her. Well, not _all_... once she got the car moving, most of the fun came back. It really was a beautiful car to drive – Jess had driven her Dad's cars before, and they were lovely drives too, but because this was a newer car it had the power and control that those cars didn't have. Jess wondered what Becker would do if she lowered the roof – she glanced at him and saw his jaw was clenched and he was gripping the top of the dashboard. She decided not to push her luck.

Instead she drove the car as carefully as she could (and a lot slower than she usually would) up the track and then onto the road leading back to the hotel car park.

Tabby stepped out of the front door of the hotel onto the sweeping stone steps as Jess manoeuvred the car into a wide parking bay. She waved to them and started towards them as Jess cut the engine and gave Becker a smug look.

"There, see, no harm done," she said cheerfully.

Becker just glared at her and reached for his door handle. Jess rolled her eyes and followed suit.

Tabby was getting closer by the second and started calling out to them as they got out of the car. "There you are – we've been looking for you – Ronnie's here, and Carrie's up and wants to see you..."

Tabby's voice trailed off and her face went blank as she properly zeroed in on Jess and Becker as they stepped out of the car. She was gaping at Jess as she shut the door behind her. "Wait... you were driving," she said, sounding shocked.

Jess had to work hard to hide her grin – she managed to just smile sweetly. "Uh-huh," she said.

Becker came round the front of the car to stand next to Jess, and she handed him his car keys, which she knew was why he'd come straight to her side. Tabby shook her head.

"What dirt do you have on Hil that made him let you behind the wheel of his baby?" She demanded of Jess.

Jess felt her wicked side rear up and she stepped closer to Becker, sliding her arm around his back. Becker froze for a moment, but quickly did what he'd promised earlier and followed her lead. He relaxed next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. Jess smiled up at him and he smiled back – though he looked a little suspicious.

Clever boy.

Jess turned her smile on Tabby. "No dirt," she said. "Just trust. I drive the car all the time."

Becker's arm tightened around Jess' shoulders and he pulled her up against him. To Tabby it would look like he was hugging her, but in fact he was pulling her close enough to whisper in her ear.

"I am going to kill you," he said, before kissing her on the temple and loosening his grip on her. Jess grinned.

Tabby looked unsure, but she nodded. "Right... well, anyway, you coming in?" She said.

Becker and Jess nodded together, and Tabby gave them one last suspicious look before turning on her heel and walking back across the car park.

Becker immediately turned to Jess. He didn't glare at her, but Jess was pretty sure that was only because Tabby might look back at them. His smile was the most forced Jess had ever seen. "I don't care how many bouquets you catch, you're never driving my car again," he said.

Jess just smiled. "We'll see," she said simply. "Come on, let's go meet the bride."

She reached down and took Becker's hand, and the two of them started to follow Tabby across the car park.

_TBC_

_Next up – Jess meets the rest of Becker's family_


	8. Chapter 8

Well here's the next instalment – the next chapter we'll learn more about Becker's sisters and there'll be more Jess and Becker pretending as well.

Let me know what you think of this chapter!

**Chapter Eight**

Becker's legs felt like lead as he allowed Jess to lead him across the car park and into the hotel – he honestly couldn't tell if it was nerves, or left over adrenaline from the fact that he'd _just let Jess drive his car_. He was still slightly in shock about that. How had she done it? He'd never let anyone drive his car – never. His sisters had tried, his brothers-in-law had tried, his parents, his army buddies – no one had ever driven his car but him.

It had taken Jess three minutes to talk him into it.

He couldn't help but glance back at his car as they climbed the front steps of the hotel – unfortunately Jess noticed. She rolled her eyes at him, and he treated her to a scowl in return. His scowling did nothing but make her grin, though, and he felt her hand tighten around his.

All thoughts of his car fled his mind as he zeroed in on the fact that Jess was holding his hand. It was silly, really – _juvenile_ – to be so discomfited by simply holding someone's hand, but here he was. He'd known, when he'd asked her to participate in this ridiculous charade, that there was going to have to be some amount of... _touching_. But putting it into practice was far different than imagining it – as Jess' lecture to him last night had highlighted. He really hadn't had a clue how to act at that dinner.

Now Jess was taking the lead, as he'd told her to, and he was going to do as promised and keep up with her. He already had, just now, when he'd hugged her in front of Tabby, and kissed her (on the temple, but it still counted). They were alone now, though, and so it seemed so much more intimate.

This was silly. He'd hugged Jess before, he'd carried her round the ARC, he'd cradled her in his lap. She didn't seem at all uncomfortable about holding his hand – she wasn't even looking at him as she led him across the hotel lobby towards the Blue Saloon. Leading him towards his family.

He needed to snap out of it. They were about to enter the vipers' nest, and he needed to concentrate on being the attentive boyfriend, not freaking out because Jess was holding his hand.

Her hand shifted in his a little as they reached the entrance to the saloon, and Becker caught a glimpse of nervousness on her face before she composed her features. Immediately forgetting his discomfort, Becker squeezed her hand and gave her a reassuring smile, which she returned. He pushed open the door and led her inside.

"Uncle Hil!"

Becker was once again immediately accosted by his nephews and nieces – plural nieces now, because Olivia was with them. Jess let go of his hand and he knelt down amongst the kids, and pulled his oldest niece into a hug.

"Hi Liv," he said with a grin as she hugged him tightly. "You okay?"

Olivia grinned back at him as she stepped back, and as always Becker was struck by how much she reminded him of her mother. She really was the spitting image of Ronnie – not so much how she looked now, but definitely how she'd looked when she was a kid, in Becker's earliest memories of his oldest sister.

"I'm good," Olivia said. "So is this your girlfriend?"

She was a lot like Ronnie in her way of dealing with him, too.

Becker looked up at Jess, and was amused to see that Jake – who was usually very shy of strangers – had sidled up next to her and was standing with his hand in hers. She _definitely_ had an admirer there.

"Yep, this is Jess," he said. "Jess, this is Olivia, she's Ronnie's daughter."

Jess grinned. "Hi, Olivia," she said. "It's nice to meet you."

Olivia smiled at Jess, but Becker recognised the speculative glint in her eye as she looked at Jess – he wondered what Ronnie had been saying to make her daughter look at Jess so thoughtfully.

"Nice to meet you too," she said after a moment.

Becker looked back at Jess to see how she was taking being assessed by a ten-year-old, and was relieved to see that she looked more amused than anything else.

Becker stood up and looked past the kids to where the rest of his family were gathered by the sofas on the other side of the room. Most of them were looking at him or Jess, but none so intently as his sisters Ronnie and Carrie.

Time for the moment of truth.

Deciding to bite the bullet, Becker stepped back to Jess, took hold of her hand again, and led her over to his sisters. Jake followed them, not letting go of Jess' other hand.

"Hi," he said as he reached them. Each of them stepped forward to kiss him on the cheek, but he knew they were just doing so out of politeness – he could practically _feel _their eagerness to get talking to Jess.

"Ronnie, Carrie – this is my girlfriend, Jess."

Jess smiled at the two of them. "Hi."

Carrie grinned and stepped forward, putting her hands on Jess' shoulders and kissing her on the cheek. "It's nice to meet you, Jess," she said. "I'm glad you could make it."

Jess grinned back. "Thanks – I'm really happy to be here," she said. "And congratulations! You must be getting really excited."

Carrie's grin vanished and she immediately looked stressed. Becker glanced over her shoulder and found Francis, her fiancé – he was watching Carrie with concern and a small amount of fear.

"'Excited' probably isn't the word I'd use right now..." Carrie was saying, pulling a face. Several of the others laughed, and Becker could see Jess was about to question her, but Ronnie cut in before she could.

"So Jess, it's nice to meet the woman who's finally beat my baby brother into submission," she said. She smiled at Jess as she held out her hand to her, but Becker could see that the smile was predatory, not friendly. God, why had he brought Jess into this situation? What had he been _thinking_?

They wouldn't be able to fool Ronnie. There was no way. He should just put a stop to this before it got any worse.

He glanced at Jess, and his moment of self-sacrificing decision-making was quelled by the evil grin that Jess was directing right back at Ronnie. He raised an eyebrow.

"Thanks," she said. "It's nice for me to meet the woman who terrifies my usually tough boyfriend to within an inch of his life."

"Hey!" Becker said indignantly without even thinking about it, and everyone in the room laughed. Ronnie grinned and shook Jess' hand, her smile turning from predatory to warm and even, maybe, approving.

"It's a gift," Ronnie said, giving Becker a teasing look. Becker rolled his eyes.

"So, we were about to have a girly catch-up, now that we're all here," Ronnie said briskly, stepping forward and threading her arm through Jess'. "Why don't you join us?"

Becker took an involuntary step forward. "I-"

Carrie gave him a stern look. "Girls only," she said firmly.

"Can I come?" Jake piped up. He was still holding onto Jess' free hand, and didn't look like he was going to let go any time soon. Everyone laughed except Becker and Jess – Becker because he was giving Jess a look of barely-controlled panic, and Jess because she was returning his look with one clearly meant to force him stay calm. He kept looking at her, trying to find some way to get her out of this situation without completely giving them both away. He knew that, despite his brief moment of wanting to give up, Jess would be very angry with him if he didn't keep up the pretence as best he could.

Tabby was gently extricating Jake from Jess' side and handing him over to his Dad, but Ronnie was looking between Becker and Jess. She smirked.

"I'm sure I don't know why you look so terrified, Hil," she said, still smirking. "Unless you have something to hide...?"

Becker blinked, unable to think of an answer, but Jess looked away from Becker to face Ronnie, and smiled. "He's got plenty to hide, believe me," she said suggestively.

Ronnie laughed, and started to lead Jess across the room. "You know, I think I'm going to enjoy this," she said. Jess gave Becker one last reassuring look over her shoulder before she and Ronnie walked through a door into an adjoining room – Tabby, Mindy and Carrie followed, and the door shut tight behind them.

Becker stood staring at the closed door in a kind of stunned silence for a few moments after Jess and his sisters disappeared. He'd known that they – all four of them – would be sure to grill Jess, but he'd always intended to _be there_ when it happened. How had he just let Ronnie whisk Jess out of the room without lifting a finger to stop her? It was the second time today that he'd let himself be swayed by Jess into letting something unthinkable happen. First, she'd talked him into driving his car. And just now she'd left with Ronnie with every appearance of complete confidence, and he'd found himself rooted to the spot, unwilling to say anything for fear of giving her away.

"Wow, rookie mistake," said Ian, breaking the silence.

Becker turned to look at the rest of his family. The kids had lost interest in what was happening, and were gathered around a low table by the door, where they were playing some kind of board game. His brothers-in-law (present and future) were grouped on the sofas, and looking at Becker with various grins and smirks.

"I can't believe you left her alone with them!" John said, laughing.

Becker sank down onto one of the sofas. "I don't know if you noticed, but there was no leaving about it," he said. "They kidnapped her."

"Yeah... you really should have seen that coming," said David – Ronnie's husband. He was grinning widely, which Becker was unsurprised about. He liked David, a lot, but he was basically a male version of Ronnie, and since the moment he'd started dating Ronnie, way back when Becker was only thirteen years old, he'd been only too happy to help Ronnie tease him.

He was like the annoying big brother he'd never wanted.

"Yeah, thanks Dave," Becker said, rolling his eyes. He looked away from David to Francis, his future brother-in-law, and decided to try and change the subject. "So Carrie's stressed about the wedding?"

Francis shrugged and sat down in an armchair. "Only since a couple of days ago – little things keep going wrong," he said. "Her dress got delivered to the wrong part of the country, the florist ran out of yellow roses, the cake arrived a day early, etcetera."

Becker rolled his eyes.

"And then of course –" Francis stopped short, and shifted uncomfortably. "Well, it's just little things like that."

Becker frowned, and Francis quirked his eyebrow at him before very slightly but very deliberately cocking his head to the side. Becker looked over Francis' shoulder and noticed, for the first time, that Carrie's son Ross was sitting on the window seat at the back of the room. He had electric blue headphones on, and he was staring out of the window.

Becker looked back at Francis, his eyebrows raised, and he replied with a small shrug. Becker got up and went over to his nephew.

"Hey," he said as he got nearer. Ross didn't so much as look in his direction, and when Becker got near he could hear why – Ross had his music turned up so loud it would drown everything else out. Becker punched him on the shoulder.

Ross jumped and snatched his headphones off, scowling at Becker as he rubbed his shoulder. "You know that's technically child abuse," he said.

Becker rolled his eyes. "Nice to see you too," he said. "Why didn't you come over and say hello?"

Ross shrugged. "Hello," he said.

Becker paused, thrown for a moment. He'd still been a kid when Ross was born, not much older than he himself was now, and the two of them had always got on well. He didn't know what was going on here, but he didn't like it.

"So why aren't you with your cousins?" He asked him.

Ross rolled his eyes. "I don't feel like playing with the kids," he said.

Becker raised his eyebrows at the churlish answer. "So you'd rather just sit on a windowsill being all antisocial?"

Ross scowled at him again. "I'm not being antisocial," he said. "I'm in the room, aren't I?"

Becker stared at him, not really knowing how to respond to this stroppy kid in front of him. Ross had _never _been like this, ever. Okay, so he twelve years old now, almost thirteen, and Becker hadn't seen him in almost a year, but no one changed _this_ much in such a short time.

Ross folded his arms. "Was that your new girlfriend?" He asked after a moment.

Becker glanced at the closed door again. "Um, yeah, that's Jess," he said.

"Why did my Mum and Aunt Ronnie kidnap her?" Ross asked.

Becker raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you could hear what was happening over _that_," he said, gesturing to his blaring headphones.

Ross rolled his eyes again. "I didn't hear it, but it was still pretty obvious," he said. "So, why did my Mum kidnap your girlfriend?"

Becker pursed his lips. "Because, as I've told you before, your Mum's deranged," he said.

He expected Ross to laugh, or at least crack a smile, but instead Ross looked away, out of the window, his face tightening into a scowl again. Becker frowned and was about to try another tact when Ross snapped the headphones back over his ears, letting Becker know that he'd been dismissed.

Becker stood frozen for a moment before shaking his head and walking back over to the sofa. His brothers-in-law were talking about something amongst themselves, but Francis was sitting silently in his armchair, waiting for Becker to sit back down.

"What's up with him?" Becker asked quietly as soon as he sat down.

Francis just gave him a sad look. "Talk to Carrie," he said.

_TBC_

Next up – we find out what became of Jess, and Becker's parents arrive.


	9. Chapter 9

As always, thanks so much for the reviews – I love readings responses to this story, and I'm so thankful you're sticking with it despite how useless I am at updating regularly! I promise I'm going to see it through, though.

**Chapter Nine**

Jess tried not to let her nervousness show on her face as Tabby closed the door behind them. They were in a smaller saloon, this time with green décor, and sunlight filtered in through the cream linen blinds over the window. Some of her trepidation must have been obvious, though, because Ronnie – who still had hold of her arm – smiled at her wickedly.

"Don't look so nervous, Jess," she said, "after all, what's there to be nervous about?"

Jess saw the smirk on Tabby's face and knew that the sisters had been talking – and from what Becker had told her about Ronnie, she knew that the oldest sister was the one who would be most suspicious of them. Well, she wasn't about to be caught out _that _easily.

She smiled back. "I'm sorry, but wouldn't _you _be worried if you were meeting your boyfriend's family for the first time and his four sisters kidnapped you?"

All four of said sisters laughed, and Ronnie let go of Jess' arm so that they could sit down on one of the sofas. Tabby and Mindy sat opposite them, but Carrie wandered over to the other side of the room.

"Is it too early in the day for hard licqour?" She asked.

Jess glanced at her watch – it was barely half ten.

"Yes," Tabby answered her sister.

Carrie looked over at them, and her eyes narrowed. "Let me rephrase that – I'm getting married tomorrow, and everything's going wrong," she said, "is it too early for hard licqour?"

"No, not at all, I'm surprised you haven't started already," Tabby amended with a grin.

"Good, who wants a drink?"

They all fixed drinks from the small side table, and Jess made herself a weak gin and tonic – she figured that alcohol might actually help her right now, and the time be damned.

"Why do you say everything's going wrong?" She asked Carrie as they all sat down.

"Well, they ran out of yellow roses, which isn't the biggest deal in the world, I grant you, but…"

"No, that's really annoying," Jess agreed. "Especially as I imagine you ordered the flowers weeks ago."

"I did!" Carrie agreed. "They're ordering them in, and they'll get here, but they'll only be delivered two hours before the ceremony, instead of 8am like they were meant to be."

"I hope you're getting hefty discount!" Jess exclaimed.

Carrie pursed her lips. "No – in fact I have to pay extra to have them rushed," she said.

"_What_?" Jess said indignantly. "That's such a con! It was their mistake, you shouldn't be paying for it!"

"I know, it's just that there's other stuff to deal with and I didn't want to argue…"

Jess frowned. "What other stuff?"

"My wedding dress got delivered to _Newcastle_, don't ask me why – but that's here now so at least I don't have to worry about that anymore. The cake came a day early, and almost got sent back because no one was in to take delivery..." Carrie sighed and gulped her drink. "And I've been really worried about Ross…."

"That's your son, isn't it?" Jess asked. Carrie nodded. "Is he okay?"

Carrie sighed again and looked away, and Jess looked away from Carrie for the first time since they'd started talking – she always got carried away when talking about weddings. She shifted uncomfortably as she realised she'd just asked quite a personal question.

"Sorry, it's none of my business," she said.

Carrie waved a hand dismissively, looking back at her. "No, sorry, it's just worrying me," she said. "He's acting… weird."

"He's acting like a _teenager_," Tabby cut in, firmly but not unkindly. "He's almost thirteen – you know what teenage boys are like."

"I know, it's just happened really suddenly," Carried said. She gave Jess a small smile. "You probably know that Ross never knew his Dad? Well, we've always been really close, but the last couple of weeks he's been really moody, and he's pulling away from both me and Francis – and he and Francis have always got on like a house on fire."

"I'm sure it's just a phase," Mindy said.

"Yeah," Carrie said forlornly. She smiled at Jess again. "Actually, I was going to ask Hil to try and find out what's wrong with him – he's always looked up to Hil, for some unknown reason."

"Well he's pretty tall," quipped Tabby. They all laughed, and Jess managed a smile, though she had a feeling the wedding conversation was over and her grilling was about to begin.

She was right.

"So…" Ronnie said, drawing out the word and making her sisters smirk. "You and our baby brother, huh?" She raised an eyebrow at Jess, and for a moment she looked uncannily like said baby brother. So much so that Jess couldn't help but smile. Ronnie took a sip of her drink and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I have a hard time believing it."

Jess' eyebrows shot up – she hadn't expected Ronnie to just come out and say something like that. She looked at the others – Tabby and Carrie looked a little surprised as well, and Mindy looked downright shocked.

Jess pulled herself together and frowned. "What do you mean?" She asked. She was a little surprised to hear that she sounded a bit hurt – and she realised that she was… was the thought of her and Becker together really that ridiculous?

"It's nothing personal, Jess," Ronnie was quick to reassure her. "I just find it extremely convenient that our brother – who hasn't been in a relationship since he was twenty-one – suddenly found himself a girlfriend in time for Carrie's wedding."

_Twenty-one_, Jess mused. So, five years since his last girlfriend. That his sisters knew about, anyway – having met them, she could understand if he'd chosen to keep girlfriends secret.

Jess thought for a moment what was the best way to act in this situation, and realised that she was feeling pretty defensive – and natural was probably the way to go, so she let her feelings flow free.

"Look, I know you're his sisters, but I don't think that gives you the right to say that we're… I don't know, _faking _or something," she said, allowing herself to get worked up. "You know, Hil only told me about this wedding a week ago. He was trying to decide whether or not he wanted me to come, and I was really upset at first because I thought he was ashamed of me or something, but he said that he just didn't want me to be interrogated by you guys – I honestly thought he was joking."

She scowled and took a gulp of her drink, giving her words a moment to sink in, and waiting to see if she'd just completely blown her story.

"Sorry, Jess," said Ronnie after a few moments.

Jess looked up and saw that Ronnie was looking at her contritely, and a quick glance told her the others were also looking sheepish. "No, I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I just get a bit defensive about me and Hil." She decided to add a little colour, so she sighed. "We're always getting comments from people at work."

"Oh?"

"Yeah… I mean, nothing really bad, in fact they're usually just joking… but there are comments about how, you know, different we are," she said. "Hil's the serious stoic soldier, and I'm, well, me." She smiled ruefully. "Also, I had a pretty big crush on him for a long time before we finally got together, so yeah, I tend to get defensive."

The others smiled, and Mindy laughed lightly. Jess grinned. "Anyway, now that I've _completely_ embarrassed myself, can we change the subject?" She said.

The sisters laughed again, and Jess smiled, feeling slightly safer. For now.

"So, you work together?" Carrie said. She grinned. "You're not a soldier, are you?"

Jess grinned back. "Oh yeah, I'm definitely the soldier type," she said. "No, I'm a civilian. Actually, without going into any details – because I can't – most of the people where we work are civilians. There's a small military force attached, and Hil's in charge of it."

Mindy's eyebrows went up. "He's in charge of it?" She asked, sounding surprised. "As in, the commanding officer?"

"That's right," Jess said. "His official title is Head of Security… I guess you don't know much about his work?"

"No, we don't really ask about what he does," Tabby said. The sisters all glanced at each other, and Jess nodded, a little confused.

"Yeah, he's actually mentioned that," Jess said, remembering their conversation yesterday.

Mindy smiled, a little sadly. "We don't really want to know," she said. She glanced at Carrie, and Jess followed her gaze – Carrie was staring at the floor, her face drawn. Jess remembered that her first husband, Ross' father, was a soldier who was killed in action, and she thought she understood.

Jess swallowed. "Well, he's very good at what he does," she said quietly, before taking another sip of her drink.

There was a few moments of silence before Ronnie spoke up again. "So... how long have you two been together, then?" She asked Jess. The suspicious tone had disappeared from her voice, but Jess thought it was best to stay on her guard.

She smiled. "Two and a half months," she said.

Ronnie smiled back. "How did you finally get together?"

Jess hesitated for just a moment too long, and she saw a flash of something in Ronnie's eyes before she bit her lip and shrugged. "Sorry, that's classified," she said. "Seriously, I can't tell you exactly what happened, but... well, let's say there was a situation, I was in danger, and his true feelings came out."

"Aw, it's like something out of a film!" Mindy said gleefully. Jess grinned at her.

"Have you taken him home yet?" Ronnie asked.

"Not yet," Jess said. "I'm not worried though – my Dad's an avid car collector, and he will fall all over himself when he sees Hil's Bentley. And my Mum's a sucker for a pretty face."

_Like mother like daughter_, she added privately to herself.

The others laughed at Jess' pretty face comment, and Tabby shifted forwards in her seat. "Seriously, how did you get Hil to let you drive his car?" She asked.

Her sisters all looked genuinely shocked. "Wait, you drove Hil's car?" Carrie exclaimed. "No way!"

"Now _that _is true love," Mindy said, grinning widely.

Ronnie blinked, still looking shocked. "I... really? That really does surprise me," she said.

Tabby nodded. "I know, I almost fainted when I saw Jess get out of the driver's seat!" She said. "I'm sorry Jess, but you've got to understand – he gets funny about giving people a _lift_ in his car, let alone letting them _drive_."

Jess decided that this would be a good opportunity to embellish their relationship a bit more, and grinned wickedly. "Well, the truth is, he lost a bet," she said.

The others all looked at her curiously, and her grin widened as she continued. "Friends of ours that we work with, Connor and Abby, they've been together for a while and Hil bet me that they wouldn't get engaged by the end of the year because Connor would never be able to work up the courage to propose," she said, proud of herself for coming up with the story on the spot. It was even true, kind of – except the prize was chocolate, duly delivered two days after the near-apocalypse.

"Anyway, he lost," Jess said. "He's really grumpy about it because _technically _he wasn't wrong – in the end, Abby proposed to Connor. Still counts though."

The sisters laughed. "So what's the bet? You can drive it whenever you want?" Tabby asked.

Jess shook her head. "I can ask to drive it up to three times a week until the end of the year," she invented. "Hil has to be in the car with me at all times." She grinned. "I don't use it to capacity – I think that every time I drive his car, he comes just a little closer to breaking up with me."

The sisters laughed again.

"What would Hil have won?" Ronnie asked.

Jess smiled wickedly. "That's classified," she said in what she hoped was a suggestive tone. She'd never been very good at _suggestive _(obvious and clumsy was more her style), but it seemed to work because the sisters all howled with laughter.

"I don't think we want to know," Mindy said.

Tabby nodded. "Definitely not the details, no," she said, "but I think we can all agree that we're relieved our brother is _finally _getting some."

Jess had to work very hard to control her reaction to Tabby's words as her sisters dissolved with laughter again, and she was able to hold her jaw in place with a supreme effort. She wasn't able to control her blush, but she figured that being embarrassed was a completely okay reaction to have in this situation.

She could recognise the signs of a group of women getting ready to have a very bawdy conversation (heaven knew she'd been involved with enough of them in her time), and she desperately wanted to change the subject. She tried to think of something that would distract them but not be too obvious.

She cleared her throat. "Yeah... Hil told me about what you guys did to him at the last wedding," she said.

"Oh, he did?" Ronnie said.

"He did, and I wanted to ask something," Jess said. She smiled. "Do any of you have a copy of the photo?"

They all started laughing again, Jess along with them, and the next little while was spent telling stories about various pranks they'd played on Becker over the years. Jess could well understand why he was so wary of his sisters, but she couldn't help laughing uproariously at all of the stories.

She wasn't sure how long they'd been talking when the connecting door they'd come through opened slowly and Becker himself stepped through. He looked at them suspiciously as he pulled the door to behind him – he didn't close it, and they could hear the rumble of conversation from the other room.

"Hello brother dearest," Ronnie said. "Come to make sure we're not torturing your girlfriend?"

Becker raised an eyebrow. "I thought I should check there were no thumb screws involved, yeah," he said sardonically. He glanced back at the door, and then at Jess, before carrying on. "Actually, I came to tell you that Mum and Dad are here."

Jess had been feeling quite relaxed, but now she swallowed, feeling nervous again. She didn't miss the looks all the Becker siblings exchanged, looks of exasperation and mild annoyance and even resentment. It didn't make her feel better. What with all his stories about his sisters, Jess really hadn't been told much about Becker's parents... all she knew was that his Dad was banker, and that Becker looked like him.

"Oh god, I need another drink," Carrie mumbled as she stood up. Mindy gave her a sympathetic look, and Tabby handed her her half-drunk gin and tonic. Jess' eyes widened as Carrie raised the glass and downed it.

Jess looked over at Becker and saw that he didn't look surprised by Carrie's reaction, and saw that in this moment he and his sisters were united, as if against a common enemy.

And that really, _really _didn't make her feel better.

_TBC_

_I was going to include the parents in this chapter, but I realised the scene would be quite long and I wanted to get this posted tonight. Sorry! I'll try and post the next part soon. _


	10. Chapter 10

That's right, your eyes are not deceiving you – this is an update of _Just Pretend_, a mere three days after the last update. I would advise you not to get used to this speed of updating... (that said the next chapter is partially written...)

Thanks again for all the reviews! Enjoy meeting Mr and Mrs Becker...

**Chapter Ten**

The second Jess walked through the connecting door back into the larger saloon she knew that she was completely right to be nervous about meeting Becker's parents. The atmosphere had completely altered. Everyone was standing up, as if waiting for inspection. Becker's brothers-in-law looked just as tense as their wives. Even the kids were quieter, and edging towards their parents.

Jess felt Becker reach for her left hand and she clutched it tightly as she caught sight of his parents.

She saw his mother first – she was a slim lady with a shiny mahogany bob, and looked to be in her sixties. She was wearing a knee-length dress with a fitted matching jacket and looked the very epitome of elegance. Jess glanced down at the flowery sundress she was wearing and tried to resist the urge to tug on the hemline of her skirt. It had been a long time since she'd felt self-conscious about she wore, but just one look at Becker's mother had her doubting her sense of style.

Mrs Becker was bent over slightly, speaking to Mindy's sons, Todd and Noel. Both of them were standing still, answering her politely while their father looked on. Jess glanced at Mindy and saw that she looked relieved at her sons' good behaviour.

Jess' nervousness increased.

Mrs Becker reached out and literally _patted _the boys' heads before straightening up and looking round. To Jess' relief, Ronnie and Tabby stepped forward to go and speak to her, and Becker pulled Jess away, towards the windows.

"Dad first," he murmured to her. "Hi, Dad," he said louder.

Becker's father was standing by the window looking out over the gardens, and he turned to face them. Jess' jaw dropped.

She'd been told Becker took after his Dad, but there was a difference between looking like a parent, and being a complete _carbon copy_ of them. It wasn't just the eyes or the mouth that was similar, it was _every single feature_ – she was basically looking at a sixty-five year old Hilary Becker. He had lines on his face and his hair was grey, but that was it. They were same height and had the same hairline. Mr Becker also had a slight stout look about him which of course his son didn't, but it didn't stop him being a very handsome man.

"Dad, this is my girlfriend, Jessica," Becker was saying. Jess snapped her mouth shut and managed to smile.

Mr Becker gave Jess a small smile and extended his hand to her. "Hello, Miss...?"

"Parker, Jessica Parker," Jess said, reaching out and shaking his hand. He had a very firm grip. "But please call me Jess."

"A pleasure," Mr Becker said, letting go of her hand and turning his gaze on his son. Jess noted that he didn't offer her his own first name.

"So, Hilary, how is work?" He said.

Becker nodded. "Fine, thanks," he said. "Busy."

His father nodded back. "Excellent," he said.

And that seemed to be it. Father and son just looked at it each other blankly, and didn't seem to have anything else to say to each other. Jess waited for them to say something, _anything_ else, but there was just silence, and after about twenty seconds she couldn't stand it anymore.

"Mindy told me that Hil looked like you, Mr Becker, but I have to say I'm surprised," she said pleasantly.

Mr Becker turned his green eyes – so much like his son's – on her again. "Why, did you think she was lying?" He asked her.

Jess' eyebrows shot up. She felt Becker grip her hand tighter and she drew courage from it, even as she floundered for something to say.

"I... no, of course not," she said. "It's just... well, the resemblance is uncanny..."

Mr Becker raised an eyebrow at her, exactly the way Becker did all the time. When his son did it, though, Jess always felt it concealed amusement or sarcasm and was usually followed by a smirk and a quip... Mr Becker's raised eyebrow just made her feel stupid.

"Well, genetics," he said simply.

Jess just nodded, feeling her cheeks start to flush. "Yeah," she said lamely. She felt Becker tighten his grip even more, but she couldn't even look at him.

Becker's mother appeared suddenly right in front of Jess – she felt Becker stiffen next to her as Mrs Becker sidled up next to her husband. She looked at Jess with a cool, assessing eye – before Jess had a chance to say anything or even to smile she looked away from her and focused on Becker instead.

"Hello, Hilary," she said.

"Hi, Mum," he replied.

Mrs Becker stepped forward and gave her son a perfunctory kiss on the cheek before quickly stepping back – as far as Jess could see there was no warmth in the action on either side.

Mrs Becker's eyes shifted to Jess again before she gave Becker an exasperated look. "Well, aren't you going to introduce us?" She said.

Becker cleared his throat. "Of course – Mum, this is my girlfriend, Jessica Parker," he said.

Mrs Becker nodded and held out a perfectly manicured hand – Jess drummed up a smile and shook it. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she said. "Please call me Jess."

Mrs Becker's eyes narrowed slightly. "Why? _Jessica_ is such a lovely name," she said airily. "So, _Jessica_, Veronica tells me that you work with Hilary."

Jess closed her mouth and nodded. "Erm, yes, that's right," she said.

"What do you do?" Mrs Becker asked her. "I don't imagine you're a soldier."

Jess managed a smile. "No, I'm not," she said. "I'm what's called a Field Coordinator."

"What does that entail?"

"Well, without going into any details, I oversee operations where we work."

"Are you some kind of specialist secretary?"

"No!" Jess exclaimed, possibly a little more forcefully than she should have. She closed her eyes briefly before shaking her head. "No, it's more complicated than that," she explained more calmly. "I liaise between the different departments and coordinate their efforts."

Mrs Becker pursed her lips for a moment before nodding. "How interesting," she said, sounding anything _but _interested. She turned to Becker. "I heard from Alicia Harvey last week," she said.

"_Mum_!" Becker exclaimed, sounding very annoyed.

Mrs Becker just raised her eyebrows. "There's no need to take on a _tone_, Hilary – she asked me to pass along her regards, so I am only the messenger," she said.

Jess glanced at Becker and saw that his teeth were clenched as he answered his mother. "Message received, _thank you_," he said.

He and his mother glared at each silently for a couple of moments. Jess looked at Mr Becker – he seemed completely uninterested in what was happening, and was looking out of the window again.

"It's almost time for lunch," Mrs Becker said eventually, breaking the silence. "I imagine the two of you would like to go and sort yourselves out." She glanced down at Jess' sundress – it was quick as a flash, but Jess saw it. "Maybe get changed," she added.

Jess couldn't help it – she went bright red. It was an instant reaction that made her feel even _more _embarrassed that she couldn't hide her embarrassment.

Becker's hand was like a vice around hers now, but suddenly he let go and Jess actually stumbled slightly – she hadn't realised how much she'd been leaning on him.

"We'll go do that," Becker was saying in clipped tones as he walked round Jess. Before she knew what was happening, he took hold of her other hand and started to lead her out of the room. Jess caught a glimpse of Tabby and Mindy by the sofas and Ronnie and David by the door, and little Jake standing with his sister just outside the room as Becker whisked her away from his family, across the hall and up the stairs. He didn't let go of her hand until they were in their room.

"I am so sorry," he said as soon as the door was closed behind them.

Jess let out a low breath, clenched her now-empty hands and then folded her arms across her chest. "Wow," she said.

Becker was giving her a look that was equal parts annoyed, guilty and embarrassed. "Are you okay?" He asked. "I'm so sorry – that really wasn't how I planned this morning to go."

Jess nodded. "I'm fine... just – wow." She shook her head and sank down on one of the sofas.

"I should have expected them to kidnap you," Becker said as he walked over to sit on the sofa perpendicular to hers.

Jess snorted. "_That _wasn't a problem," she said. "Your sisters are fine... you didn't tell me anything about your parents."

Becker scowled, but shrugged. "Yeah, they're a treat," he said. "But you don't need to worry about them – they won't suspect anything."

"Maybe not, but your Dad clearly thinks I'm a complete idiot, and your Mum thinks I'm... I don't know what she thinks I am," Jess said, fighting not to blush again at the memory.

Becker rolled his eyes. "My Dad thinks everyone is an idiot," he said.

"Thanks!" Jess exclaimed. "You're meant to say I'm imagining things!"

Becker actually smiled at that. "Sorry," he said. "But seriously – he's pretty smart, and he tends to think everyone he meets is stupid. Don't take it personally."

Jess laughed humourlessly. "How could I not?"

Becker shrugged. "You learn – I did," he said.

Jess shook her head. "And your Mum..."

"Is a cow," Becker said.

"Becker!" Jess gasped. "You shouldn't say things like that!"

_Even if it's true_ she added to herself.

Becker pulled a face. "Maybe not," he said. "She's... she's very set in her ways."

"How so?"

"Well, funnily enough, she would probably like you better if you _were_ a secretary," Becker said.

"What? Why?"

"She has very traditional views about... women."

Jess blinked. "What do you mean _traditional_?"

Becker sighed. "She thinks a woman's place is in the home," he said. "She's never had a job – she married Dad straight out of uni, had five children and spent her life as a housewife. She doesn't like career women... which is a problem for her, as she has four daughters who all have very good jobs."

Jess gaped at him. "You're kidding," she said after a moment.

Becker shook his head. "You saw Carrie's reaction to Mum arriving?"

Jess nodded. "She downed Tabby's drink," she said.

"Well, she and Mum have a pretty... volatile relationship," he said. "I don't think she'd be at the wedding except that it would look bad if she wasn't here."

"Why not?"

"Carrie was always Mum's favourite. She was the baby for eight years before I came along. It seemed like she was following in Mum's footsteps – she met Ross in uni and they got married just after graduating, just like Mum and Dad. But then Ross died and Carrie... moved on."

"What was she supposed to do?"

Becker shrugged. "Well, not go out and get a career, that's for sure," he said. "Mum never forgave her for not just finding another husband – after a suitable period of mourning – and keeping to the plan. Also... Mum just really doesn't like Francis. He's a musician, plays in house bands on TV shows... which doesn't sit well with Mum."

Jess shook her head. "Wow," she repeated.

Becker sighed. "Yeah... welcome to the family," he said sarcastically. Jess smiled, and he shrugged again. "I probably should have warned you about them as well, sorry," he said.

"It's okay."

"So how did it go with the harpies?" Becker asked.

Jess smiled again, shaking her head. "It was fine," she said. "They're really not as bad as you say they are."

Becker looked unconvinced. "They didn't try to grill you?" He asked.

Jess grinned. "They started to, but I lost my temper and they backed off."

Becker blinked. "Wait, what?"

"I got really defensive and then acted all upset, and they said sorry and we moved on," Jess told him.

Becker gaped at her. "That worked?" Jess nodded, and Becker shook his head. "Jess... that's... it's..."

"Brilliant?" Jess suggested slyly.

Becker grinned and nodded. "That's one way of putting it," he said. "So what did you talk about?"

Jess smirked. "You, mostly," she said.

Becker rolled his eyes. "I don't want to know," he said flatly. Jess grinned.

"Ooh, we talked about me driving your car," Jess said. "You know our bet about Connor and Abby getting engaged?"

"You mean the one you won on a technicality?"

"Let it go, Becker. Well, I changed it so that me driving your car was the prize I won."

Becker raised an eyebrow. "Okay... what were the terms?"

"I get to drive your car three times a week –"

"You are _not_ dri –"

"_Relax_, Becker... I told them that I don't drive it very often at all because every time I do you come closer to breaking up with me," Jess said. She gave him a sardonic look. "Which is the truth, I think – we need to talk about your unhealthy relationship with your car."

"Whatever," Becker said, rolling his eyes. "Just tell me the rest of the terms."

"Three times a week until the end of the year, and you have to be in the car with me at all times," Jess told him.

Becker nodded. "And what would I have won?"

Jess smirked. "I left that to their imaginations," she said.

"Oh _good_," Becker said sarcastically. Jess gave him a sweet smile which he answered with a shake of his head before resting his head back against the cushion behind him. Jess watched him silently for a moment before speaking up again.

"Who's Alicia Harvey?" She asked.

Becker didn't move right away, but Jess knew he'd heard her. "My ex-girlfriend," he said after a few moments.

Jess' eyes widened as his answer sank in, and her opinion of his mother dropped even lower.

"Wow," she said again.

"Yeah," Becker said. He raised his head to look at her. "We dated for six months during my final year at uni –we broke up and I haven't seen her since. _Unfortunately _she and my Mum got on like a house on fire, and the two of them are still in touch."

"Awkward."

Becker rolled his eyes. "I didn't realise it at the time, but she and my Mum were very similar in a lot of ways," he told her. "The only reason my Mum bothered to go to university was to catch a husband, and I think Alicia had similar plans."

"You didn't feel like tying the knot?"

Becker snorted. "_No_," he said. "And once she realised that I was actually _serious _about joining the army, she had second thoughts too."

They lapsed into silence again, and Jess mused over everything she'd learnt about Becker and his family that day. She hadn't realised just how much of an insight into the man this weekend was going to provide, but here she was finding out things she never would have even thought to ask. She'd met and survived his sisters, and she supposed the same could be said about his parents, though she definitely didn't feel quite as unscathed from that encounter.

Jess got to her feet and headed for the dressing room next to the bed.

"What are you doing?" Becker called out to her.

"I'm just going to change for lunch," Jess told him.

"_Don't_," Becker said, so forcefully Jess froze. She turned to look at him and saw that he was sitting on the very edge of his seat, as if he was about to jump up. He gave her an intense look. "Seriously Jess, don't."

Jess swallowed. "But –"

Becker stood up and walked round the sofa. "You can't let her get to you," he said. "She's a snob. In fact, I might wear trainers to lunch just to annoy her."

Jess rolled her eyes. "There's no need to be petty," she said.

Becker shrugged. "Maybe not," he said. "But really, don't get changed."

Jess tugged self-consciously at the hem of her sundress. "Really?" She said. "You don't think this dress is a little..."

"It's fine, Jess," Becker said. "You look lovely."

Jess raised her eyebrows at the compliment, and Becker looked away in embarrassment, so she knew he was being sincere. She smiled.

"Come on, we should go back down," Becker said.

Jess nodded and the two of them walked over to the door. Becker paused in front of it and gave Jess a smile. "We'll sit by Carrie and Francis for lunch," he said. "She'll sit as far away from them as possible."

Jess grinned and nodded, and the two of them headed out of the room.

_TBC _

_Next up, dinner and after-dinner drinks..._


	11. Chapter 11

Merry (almost) Christmas everyone! Thanks very much for your patience with this story. I'm fairly certain you won't see another update of this story until after Christmas now, because not only am I very busy but I also have my Becker/Jess LJ Secret Santa story to write.

So, let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy Christmas – have a good one!

This chapter's a bit of a beast... enjoy!

**Chapter Eleven**

Becker sat on one of the sofas in his and Jess' suite, flipping through the channels on the TV and hoping that something would jump out and catch his attention. Jess was in the bathroom freshening up and as he felt fresh enough already he had nothing else to do but wait for her.

He hated that he felt so nervous. Jess had proven herself tenfold over the past day – his sisters clearly liked her if nothing else, his parents had bought it completely, and his nieces and nephews all thought she was great. She had survived a grilling by the harpies – even coming out on top, if she was to be believed – and also a lunch and afternoon tea with his parents. Mindy had already pulled him aside to ask him if he was thinking of 'popping the question'. Jake was completely smitten with her. Dinner with his siblings and their families had been fine too, the kids' presence once again mitigating any tension somewhat.

And yet Becker was nervous, and it was for one reason – Ronnie.

Jess had done amazingly well to convince everyone else of their relationship, but Becker knew his oldest sister, and she wasn't entirely convinced. She was still scrutinising them at dinner, making Becker feel more uncomfortable by the minute. Jess had taken dinner in her stride, chatting away with the kids and his other sisters. Everyone had been in high spirits, mostly because his parents had gone out to a fancy restaurant with friends who lived locally. Becker had tried to hide his discomfort and he thought that this time he actually had succeeded – Jess hadn't turned on him when they'd got back to their suite, anyway. She'd waved away his concerns about Ronnie, and had said that he shouldn't let her get to him.

Easy for her to say.

Nothing was catching Becker's attention on the TV, so he switched it off and dropped his head back against the cushions with a sigh.

"You _really_ need to relax," Jess said from behind him.

Becker turned round to face her. She'd freshened her make-up and put on a jewel-bright blue cardigan over her orange dress, and she was giving him a slightly exasperated look.

"We could pretend to be ill," Becker said after a moment.

Jess rolled her eyes. "Man up, Becker," she said, starting for the suite's door. "It's only after-dinner drinks."

"Ronnie is going to –"

"We can handle Ronnie," Jess said, waiting for him by the door. Becker shook his head but stood up and walked over to her. "Really, we have our back story, and the others are definitely convinced – if she asks questions, we'll answer them. Just don't worry."

She gave him a smile, and he couldn't help but return it. She reached out and took his hand before opening the door, and though Becker knew it was just for show he actually drew some comfort from the feeling of her hand in his.

God he sounded pathetic, even in his head.

His sisters and their husbands were gathered in the smaller Blue Saloon, and this time the kids were nowhere to be seen, being all tucked up in bed (or, in the case of the slightly older Olivia and Ross, playing on their PSP or listening to obnoxious music whilst scowling at the wall respectively). Becker felt another small wave of panic over the thought of sitting through a grilling without the kids there as a buffer, but he fought through it and even managed a smile as Jess tugged him over to one of the sofas.

Then there were drinks to be got, and the kids to be discussed, followed by some choice words from Carrie about what their mother had thought of the seating plan... so for a whole half an hour Becker was able to sit back and just let the conversation wash over him without having to really input much.

Jess was eagerly contributing, sitting forward and chatting away with his family like she'd know them for years. Becker smiled fondly, knowing that it wasn't acting on her part – she was just like that. Jess was so friendly, so determined to like everyone she met, and people just opened up to her. Becker had seen it in action so often in the last year and half – Matt treated her like a little sister, Connor and Abby had gone to stay with her and still hadn't left, she was very clearly Lester's favourite, and Becker's men would most likely follow her orders as readily as they did his.

It had happened with him too, and so fast he hadn't even noticed it happening. He'd spent months wallowing in self-pity and guilt, unwilling to talk about anything with anyone, but just a look from those big blue eyes and he'd found himself telling her all kinds of things about the old team. He found himself going out of his way to speak to her, even if it was just to say hello. He just felt... _comfortable_ with Jess, in a way he hadn't felt, well, with anyone before.

Becker snapped out of his thoughts as Jess sat back during a lull in the conversation. He was sat on the end of the sofa, half against the armrest and half against the back, and his arm was draped along the back of the sofa, so when Jess sat back his arm was suddenly around her and she was sitting against him. He felt her tense very slightly for a split second before she relaxed, and he followed her lead, dropping his arm to rest more firmly against her shoulder. She settled back against him and her hand dropped down to rest on his leg, just above his knee. He could feel the warmth of her hand through his jeans, and the heat of her body against his shirt.

He was concentrating so hard on how much he enjoyed sitting like this with Jess that he didn't realise how dangerous a lull in conversation could be.

"So I hear you let Jess drive your car," David said suddenly, smirking at Becker.

Becker glanced at Ronnie – she'd been remarkably quiet all evening, but he didn't think for a moment that she was letting him and Jess off the hook... and he so wouldn't be surprised if she'd prepped her husband into grilling them instead, to come at them in an unexpected side attack. He took in Ronnie's slight smile at her husband's question, and figured the moment of truth had arrived.

Becker squared his shoulders. "Sometimes," he said. He threw Jess a glare, and she smiled sweetly up at him in an entirely unrepentant way. He rolled his eyes. "And only because I lost a bet," he added.

David grinned. "I'm surprised you agreed to it as a condition of the bet – how did she talk you into it?"

Becker didn't hesitate. "She intimidates me," he said. He was only half-joking.

Everyone laughed except for Jess who gave him a slightly surprised look – he guessed she was taken aback by his quick answer. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she gave him a small smile, her cheeks going slightly pink, her hand slipping slightly on his leg. Becker grinned.

"How old are you, Jess?" Ian said suddenly. He gave Jess a sheepish look when she looked round at him, and shrugged. "If you don't mind me asking..."

Jess smiled. "No, it's fine," she said. "I turned twenty a couple of months ago."

"What did Hil get you?" Ronnie asked, sounding casual but looking predatory.

Becker decided the truth would be the safest answer here. "Chocolates," he said at the exact same moment as Jess. They caught each other's eye and grinned.

Ronnie didn't look very impressed. "How original," she said dryly.

Becker rolled his eyes at her, but Jess came to his defence. "I'm actually slightly addicted to chocolate, so it was a good choice," she said. She didn't add that chocolate had a bit of a special meaning to the two of them, so it was a deeper gift than it appeared. Not that she necessarily thought that... maybe it was just him. Maybe chocolate was just chocolate.

Maybe he should stop pathetic again.

He dragged himself back into the moment and saw that Ian was staring at Jess in surprise. "You're really twenty?"

Jess nodded. "Yes."

Becker glanced round at his family, wondering if they were going to be weird about him dating someone so young... not that he really thought of Jess as young. In the grand scheme of things, six years younger than him was really not that much.

Though he had to admit he was glad she wasn't a teenager anymore – that had made him feel like a bit of a perv.

He saw that only Ian looked truly surprised by Jess' age, but his next question made it clear why that was.

"Shouldn't you be at university?" He asked.

Jess stumbled for an answer for the first time. "I..."

"Ian!" Mindy scolded her husband. "Not everyone wants to go to university." She gave Jess an apologetic look. "Sorry Jess."

Ian didn't look in the least bit repentant. "Yeah, but if she works with Hil... I don't know exactly what he does but I bet you need a degree if you're a civilian there," he said, looking to Jess again.

"That's true," Ronnie said thoughtfully. "Jess?"

Becker didn't feel nervous about this line of questioning – in fact he was quite looking forward to his family's reaction. Jess was blushing – Becker knew from experience that she hated having this conversation, because it was very difficult not to sound like she was boasting.

"I did go to uni," she said after a moment.

Ian frowned. "You mean you're a student at the moment?" He asked.

Jess shook her head. "No – I went to university early," she said cagily. It's what she always said, and Becker always found it amusing – people _always_ asked how early, but she never just came out and told them straight away. She hated to say it.

"How old were you?" Ian asked, predictably.

Jess paused for a moment before answering, and Becker felt her hand tighten slightly on his leg. "Fourteen," she said reluctantly.

"_Fourteen_?" Mindy exclaimed. "Where did you go?"

Jess hesitated again, and Becker tightened his arm around her. "I did Computer Sciences at Cambridge," she said after a moment.

Ian was gaping at her, as were many of the others. "You went to _Cambridge _when you were _fourteen_?" He exclaimed.

Jess was blushing very prettily now. "Um, yeah," she said.

Becker grinned at the looks of shock on his family's faces. "She's got a Masters too," he announced. Jess immediately scowled at him, but he just kept grinning unapologetically. He'd used to tease her a lot about being such a smarty pants, but he'd realised after a few months that she actually was quite sensitive about having gone to uni early – not because she was ashamed or sorry she went or anything, but because she worried that people would think she was either really smug or just weird.

The chance to shock his family was too good an opportunity to miss out on, though.

"What? Seriously?" Dave said.

Jess sighed. "After I finished my three year BA, I stayed on and did an MPhil for a year," she admitted.

Ian was still gaping. "So by the age most kids are starting uni, you had two degrees," he said. "From Cambridge."

"Yes."

Becker grinned again. "I told you she's intimidating," he said.

Everyone laughed at that, and even Jess managed a small smile. The moment of humour snapped them all out of gaping at Jess, and a rowdy discussion of university life followed. Becker felt Jess relax against him once more and he allowed himself to relax too, since he and Jess weren't the focus for the moment. More drinks were handed round along with a box of chocolates, Mindy went to check on the kids, and Becker found himself realising that he was actually enjoying himself. He hadn't been with his entire family like this in almost two years – even at Christmas last year he'd only seen two of his sisters. Having Jess with him not only took the edge off his sisters' teasing him, it also just made him more comfortable in general... like she always did.

He watched Jess as she agonised over what chocolate to pick, and had to smile at the way she bit her lip as she scrutinised the card telling you what the different chocolates were. It wasn't often that he was able to just sit back appreciate how adorable Jess was, especially since he spent most of his time trying to convince himself that he _didn't _find her adorable, so he enjoyed just watching her. She made her decision and reached for a chocolate, holding the description card in her other hand. Becker's eyes flicked over the card for a moment before glancing up at the chocolate heading towards Jess' mouth. His eyes widened and he lunged forward, cupping his hand over the chocolate just as she brought it to her lips.

So, through the laws of momentum, Jess' lips ended up against his hand instead.

Jess froze for a moment before pulling her head back quickly and looking at him with wide eyes. Becker dragged his eyes away from the sight of her pink lipstick smeared on the back of his hand and looked at her. He noticed that there was silence in the room as everyone watched them, probably wondering what on earth was going on.

Becker raised his eyebrows at Jess. "That one's orange," he said by way of an explanation.

Jess frowned and looked down at the card in her hand, and then at the box in her lap. Becker released the hand holding the chocolate and looked too – the one she was holding was definitely the orange whip, and looked almost identical to the strawberry whip... just a slightly darker colour.

Jess huffed. "Well that's just misleading," she complained.

Becker grinned and plucked the strawberry whip out of the box, and held it out on his palm for Jess. Jess smiled at him and took it, and then held out the chocolate orange for him in the same way. He took it, and the two of them popped the chocolates in their mouths at the same time. Becker grinned as he chewed, and Jess grinned back.

He looked up and saw that his family were still watching them, now looking confused. He shrugged, still grinning. "Jess doesn't like chocolate orange," he said.

They laughed, and Carrie grinned as well. "Aw, you two _are_ sweet," she said. Then she pulled a face. "It's kind of sickening."

They all laughed again, but Becker didn't. That moment right then had been the one time all day that he hadn't been trying to act, and _that _had been the sickeningly sweet moment? Well something wasn't right there, not right at all.

He looked down at Jess and saw that she too was looking at him, kind of like she was trying to gauge his reaction. He didn't know what she saw, but she suddenly leant up and kissed him on his cheek.

Before Becker had time to react, Mindy breezed back into the room. "What did I miss?"

"Just Hil and Jess being revolting," Tabby said, winking at Jess as she said it.

Mindy laughed. "Right," she said. "Jess, I have that thing you asked for earlier."

Becker glanced at Jess and saw that she looked as confused as he felt. Mindy grinned and cocked her head, beckoning for Jess to join her where she stood behind the other sofa. Becker saw the smugness and excitement in his sister's face and was immediately on his guard, but Jess was already scooting forward and putting the chocolates down on the coffee table, preparing to stand up. He thought about grabbing her arm and pulling her back, but she was too quick – a moment later she was on her feet and heading towards Mindy.

Most of the others had started talking again, but Becker kept his eyes fixed on Mindy and Jess. He couldn't think of anything Jess would have asked for, and was even more confused when Mindy handed Jess a folded piece of paper. Jess looked puzzled as well but her face cleared as she unfolded it. Then she gasped. And then she burst out laughing.

Becker frowned as Mindy started laughing too. She caught Tabby's eye and winked, and Tabby suddenly seemed to get the joke because she started laughing as well. In fact, Becker watched as one by one all of his sisters started laughing, even Ronnie. He looked back at Jess, and saw that she was still shaking with laughter, but she was now looking back at him.

"You didn't tell me you were half naked at the time," she said, turning the paper round so he could see what was on it.

It was a picture. No, it was _the _picture. The one his treacherous sisters had taken of him two years ago, at their cousin's wedding. The one in which he was tied to the railings, completely drunk out of his mind and, yes, shirtless.

And it was in Jess' hand.

"Oh my god," he said, as all his brothers-in-law started laughing as well. He jumped to his feet. "Oh god – give me that!"

Jess turned the picture round to look at it again, and seemed to be thinking about it. Then she shook her head. "Nope," she said, folding it up again.

"Jess!" Becker growled, starting to walk towards her.

Jess just grinned and twirled the paper round in the air. "I think I might get it framed," she said, "it would look _lovely _on my desk..."

Becker knew she was joking... probably... but he also knew there was a high chance of Connor or Abby being shown that photo, and that he could not allow. "Jess..." he said warningly. "Either give me the photo, or I'm taking it by force."

Jess smirked. "I'd like to see you try," she said.

Becker didn't need any further encouragement. He darted towards her – Jess squealed and dove behind Mindy, so Becker missed her by inches. She peeked from behind his howling sister, and then legged it in the other direction, back round the sofas. Becker went round the sofas in the other direction, cutting her off on the other side.

"Hand it over, Jess," he said, giving her one last chance.

Jess hesitated, and then held out the picture to him. He stepped forward to take it but Jess suddenly darted to the side and round him – he immediately went after her. She was heading for the door but she must have sensed he was closing in on her and that she'd never get it open in time, because she changed direction again, doing a lap of the room. Becker was too quick for her though, and within a few moments he had her trapped in the corner with nowhere to go.

He smirked as he closed in on her and she turned to face him, her eyes wide.

"Hand it over," Becker repeated calmly.

Jess held up her hands as if in surrender – and they were both empty. "I don't have it," she said innocently. Too innocently.

Becker raised an eyebrow. "Oh really," he said dryly. "And where is it?"

Jess shrugged. "I must have dropped it," she said.

"Sure," said Becker. Then he took three quick steps forward, backing her up against the wall. Jess' eyes widened as he smirked down at her, and Becker placed his hands against the wall on either side of her. "Last chance," he said.

Jess didn't say anything, she just shook her head. Becker gave a big mock sigh and shook his head back at her. "Then you leave me no choice," he said.

He paused for a moment, just to play with her mind, before reaching down and starting to tickle her mercilessly at her sides. Jess screamed and bent over double, trying to push his hands away but laughing too much to do so.

"Where is it, Jess?" Becker demanded, not letting up for one second.

"I don't – don't know!" Jess managed to gasp out. "Please stop!"

She tried to turn away from him but he just stepped behind her and kept tickling, one arm wrapped around her waist from behind while the other kept up the relentless attack. He felt a rustle of paper between them and paused, stepping back a little to try and see. Jess recovered much quicker than he'd expected and quickly jumped away from him – he caught her up after two steps and grabbed her again, but he lost his balance slightly. Luckily there was a large armchair next to them so he allowed himself to fall onto it, pulling Jess down with him onto his lap.

He felt the rustle of paper again and, keeping on hand clamped around Jess' waist to keep her in place, he slipped his other hand under her cardigan and round her back. The picture was folded up and tucked into the back of her belt, and Becker quickly seized it and pulled it free, holding it triumphantly in the air.

"Aha!" He exclaimed, looking down at Jess. She was a lot closer than he'd realised – in his quest to find the picture he'd basically pulled her right up against him, so her body was pressed against his side and her face was inches from his. He was sprawled diagonally across the armchair and Jess was mostly on top of him, her legs tangled with his. Her hands were pressed up against his chest and he felt her fingers tense slightly as she returned his gaze.

She really was so beautiful.

Dimly, Becker became aware that the room was filled with laughter, and the sound was enough to snap him out of staring at Jess and look away. His family were all howling with laughter at their little display. Jess pushed back from him and stood up, making a big show of brushing down her dress and straightening her cardigan.

"Honestly," she said, giving him a mock-glare, "_that _was a complete overreaction to some harmless workplace humiliation."

His family all laughed harder, and Becker narrowed his eyes at Jess as he slowly but deliberately tore the picture in two. Jess smirked and turned away, heading back over to the rest of the family.

"Don't worry," Mindy said as she drew nearer, "I can email you the photo."

Becker rolled his eyes but didn't say anything, and he didn't follow Jess either. He stayed where he was, methodically ripping the picture into smaller and smaller pieces and trying not to panic. It was difficult, though. Because this was all pretend, him and Jess, they were just putting on a show... and for a moment there, it had felt far too real.

_TBC_

_Next up – Becker and Jess realise their sleeping arrangements might end up blowing their cover..._


	12. Chapter 12

Happy new year everyone! I hope you all had a lovely time last night whatever you were doing, and that you all had a nice Christmas as well. Here's the next chapter – I'm going to try and get another chapter out before I go back to work on Wednesday, but no promises!

I just bought a new laptop and when it asked me to name it, I called it ADD… #obsessed

Enjoy – please let me know what you think!

**Chapter Twelve**

Jess lay in bed later that night with her book open on her lap, concentrating on looking like she was immersed in the story. She wasn't – she had no idea what was written on the pages in front of her as she wasn't paying them any attention whatsoever. What she was really doing was trying to avoid Becker while being in the same room as him and making it look like she wasn't avoiding him at all.

It wasn't exactly the easiest thing in the world to achieve.

After dinner drinks had gone well. Very well. First Becker setting her up to tell her university story, then the thing with the chocolate, and then of course that chase around the room when he'd been after the photo… all those moments had gone a long way to convincing Becker's family of their relationship. Becker has seemed to realise this as well, as he'd been much more comfortable and relaxed with her as the evening had gone on. He'd even been… well, _affectionate _was the only word for it. Nothing too overt, but his arm had been round her all night, he'd brushed her hair back a couple of times, he'd passed her drinks and chocolates and held her hand at one point as well.

It was just pretend. She knew it was – it was all a ruse. He was, in fact, just doing what she'd told him to do the day before – he was acting like she was his girlfriend. However, Jess couldn't deny that she'd liked it. A _lot_.

She should never have agreed to do this… it had been a ridiculous idea. Oh, she wasn't worried about revealing the truth to his family – she had no problems responding to Becker's actions, or playing the doting girlfriend. No, the problem was that a lot of the time it wasn't pretend. Not for her. She didn't need to think about what she was doing when she was with him.

At least, not when they were with his sisters. It was when they were alone that it was a problem - in public she could act as affectionate as she liked and not worry. In private, she was having to really hold back for fear that Becker would see through her and see the truth.

God, it was all so twisted.

Becker was fussing with the blankets by the sofas, sorting out his bed for the night. He'd already changed into a pair of pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt, and part of the reason Jess was staring so hard at her book was to avoid looking at where the fabric of his shirt was clinging to the definition of his abs.

Damn that photo. She'd wanted to see it, but… _damn_. She'd never seen Becker _properly_ shirtless before, and in the picture he'd just been wearing a pair of jeans. His right hand had been tied to the top of the railings, meaning he was sitting up against them with one arm raised above his head, his head lolling against his shoulder. Apparently he'd received at least ten phone numbers the next day after the photo'd been sent out – Jess wasn't the least bit surprised.

Of course, the problem now was that every time she looked at him she saw the photo.

Again – _damn_.

Jess turned the page of her book to make it seem like she was actually reading, but just kept staring.

The wedding was the next day, and Jess couldn't decide if she was dreading it or looking forward to it. On one hand, there would be a lot more people there which would take the pressure off her and Becker a bit – the guests at the wedding wouldn't take as much fooling as his immediate family, and the day would be so busy that they probably wouldn't be paid much attention. But on the other hand they would have to keep up the act all day – there would be touching, hugging, dancing… and plenty of opportunity for her to make a fool of herself. On the _other _other hand, Jess did love a good wedding, so maybe it would be okay.

Becker finished making his bed and disappeared into the bathroom, and as soon as the door closed Jess dropped her head back against the pillows behind her with a sigh. She could do this. She could. If she'd learnt nothing else this trip she'd learnt that Becker was completely clueless, and so she shouldn't worry too much about him figuring her out. Just because something was obvious to her didn't mean it was obvious to him.

She was just starting to relax when she heard voices outside in the corridor. The voices were muffled but immediately recognisable – it was Mindy and Ronnie.

Ronnie. She was the one person that Jess still wasn't sure about. And she was right outside their room. She froze for a moment before scrambling out of bed and running across the room to the sofa with Becker's blankets on. She grabbed up the bedding and ran back across the room, opening the door to the dressing room to throw it all inside. She ran back into the middle of the room, trying to see if there was anything else she needed to get rid of, but nothing else jumped out. She straightened the cushions on the sofa and waited for the inevitable knock on the door.

It came about two seconds later.

Jess took a deep breath and forced herself to wait a moment before heading towards the door. She glanced around the room one more time before unlocking the door to the suite and pulling it open.

Ronnie was standing on the other side of it, a smile on her face that was bordering on a smirk. Mindy was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, hi Ronnie," Jess said, hoping she sounded surprised.

"Hi Jess, I'm so sorry to disturb you guys…" She looked over Jess' shoulder into the empty room behind her and raised an eyebrow. "Where's Hil?"

Jess fought the urge to roll her eyes. Did Ronnie really think they were dumb enough to have separate rooms? "He's in the bathroom," she told her. "Do you want to come in?"

"Thanks – I'll just be a second," Ronnie said, stepping into the room. Jess closed the door behind her, wishing there was some way she could warn Becker that his sister was in the room. She supposed she could just yell to him, and she was about to, but the bathroom door opened before she had a chance.

"So I was thinking that – Jess? Oh." Becker stopped just outside the bathroom door, his eyes wide at the sight of his sister. "Hi Ronnie," he said.

Jess waved to him behind Ronnie's back and gave him a quick thumbs up, hoping to let him know she'd sorted out the sofa. He seemed to understand because his shoulders relaxed slightly.

"What's up?" He asked Ronnie.

"Mindy and I suddenly realised that we haven't had you sign Carrie's card yet," Ronnie said. "I know you've probably got her one of your own, but we also got one from all of us if you want to sign it."

Becker nodded. "Sure, okay," he said. "I'll find you in the morning."

"Oh, I'll go and get it now," Ronnie said, turning back to the door. "I won't be a minute."

"Ronnie it's late," Becker said. "I want to go to bed." He sat down on the bed to emphasise his point.

Ronnie wasn't to be deterred, though. "Don't be such a baby," she said dismissively. "I'll be back in a sec." She went back out of the room, and Jess closed the door behind her but left it unlocked.

She turned back to Becker and raised her eyebrows at him, and in response he flopped back on the bed and groaned. Jess had to laugh.

"I should have known," he said.

Jess walked over to the bed and sat back down next to him. She figured she might as well get comfortable so she settled back into the bed and pulled the covers back over her before looking down at Becker, who was staring up at the ceiling.

"It could have been worse," Jess said. "She could have picked the lock in the middle of the night and caught you sleeping on the sofa."

"I wouldn't put it past her," Becker said. He sat up and shifted back so he was sitting next to her on the bed, resting against the headboard like she was. He sighed. "I'm sorry," he said.

Jess frowned. "What for?"

"For my demented sister," he said, quirking an eyebrow at her. Jess grinned.

"She doesn't believe us," she said. "That makes her smart, not demented."

Becker rolled his eyes. "I don't know what to do to convince her," he said. "And she'll get to the others as well. They all listen to her." He shook his head. "This was just a waste of your time. So yeah, I'm sorry."

He looked away again, staring at the door waiting for Ronnie to come back in. Jess frowned again, thinking about what he'd said. It was true that convincing Ronnie was the key- the others had fallen for it, and there were loads of times tonight that Jess had thought they'd convinced Ronnie too. But her turning up at their room like this just showed that she needed more proof.

Jess swallowed.

"Kiss me," she said.

Becker's head snapped round to look at her. "_What_?"

Jess glanced at the door – Ronnie was going to walk back in at any moment. "Kiss me," she repeated, turning more towards Becker. She met his eyes without any embarrassment, sure that this is what had to happen right now. She opened her mouth to explain to Becker that this was necessary for their pretence, but before she could he leant forward and covered her mouth with his.

Jess was surprised that the completely clueless Becker had caught on to what she was talking about so quickly, but she didn't question it. She kissed him back, placing her hands on his shoulders and forcing herself not to slide her fingers into his hair like she'd been wanting to do for a year now.

And while Becker was clueless when it came to lots of things, kissing certainly wasn't one of them. Jess had been expecting him to just press his mouth to hers for the look of the thing, but he was kissing her properly – boy, was he kissing her properly. His lips were moving constantly against hers, pressing firmly and forcing hers to mould around his. One of his hands came to rest on her hip and he tilted his head to change the angle of the kiss, but he didn't try to deepen it. Jess tried not to be disappointed – this was _pretend_, after all, and they were already treading a fine line.

"_Ahem_. Wow, sorry."

Jess and Becker pulled back from each other like they'd been burnt, both turning to face Ronnie who was standing just inside the door with an embarrassed look on her face. Embarrassed and apologetic – there was no sign of her signature smirk. Jess would have felt jubilant if she wasn't too busy feeling embarrassed herself – she could feel her cheeks flushing and her heart was racing… though that was probably more to do with the kiss than the embarrassment.

She glanced at Becker and saw that he, too, was looking pretty red. He cleared his throat. "Sorry," he said. "Um, you got the card?"

Ronnie nodded and held it up for them to see. "Yep – I'll just… leave it here," she said, putting it down on the table next to the door. "You can sign it and give it back in the morning."

"Okay."

"Okay then – well, good night you two."

"Good night."

"Night!"

And with that, Ronnie turned on her heel and fled.

Both Jess and Becker stared at the door for a few moments after she'd gone. "Wow," Becker said eventually.

Jess started to smile.

"I mean – did you see that?" Becker asked, turning to look at her. He shook his head. "You're brilliant."

Jess shrugged, feeling herself blushing again. "So I'm told," she said coyly. Becker laughed and got off of the bed, crossing the room to lock the door and then look at the card Ronnie had left behind. Then he started heading towards the dressing room, presumably to collect his bedding.

Jess sighed. "Just sleep in the bed," she said.

Becker stopped and looked at her, eyebrows raised, but she refused to feel embarrassed. Honestly, it was like they were kids or something. "Seriously," she said. "I wouldn't be surprised if anyone turns up unexpectedly again. Besides, this bed's about three metres wide – there's more than enough room."

Becker shifted from foot to foot, looking unsure, but he didn't flat out say no, which Jess took as an encouraging sign.

"Are you sure?" He said after a moment.

Jess rolled her eyes and laid back, flipping back the quilt for the space next to her. "Yes," she said. "Get in."

Becker glanced at the door again, before nodding. "Well, okay," he said. "If you're sure you don't mind."

He made his way round the bed. Jess turned her attention to the light switches by the bed, flipping them off until only the two small reading lights remained. She didn't look at Becker as he got into the bed and lay down next to her, and she kept her features carefully schooled. She knew that this arrangement made the most sense, because even if Ronnie was fooled like the rest of them it didn't mean that someone couldn't surprise them during the night or in the morning, and realise the truth.

Really, though, she did like to make things hard for herself.

She turned off her reading light, and a moment later Becker followed suit. They lay perfectly still next to each other in the darkness, neither of them saying anything. Jess had been right about the bed – he was still a couple of feet away from her, it was so wide. Even so she was very, very aware of him so close to her, especially after what had just happened.

She had just kissed him. Or rather, he had just kissed her – because really that's what had happened. She had said 'kiss me' and like a good soldier he had followed orders. Very thoroughly. She'd known when she'd agreed to pretend to be his girlfriend that kissing of some description would be inevitable but really she'd thought she could get away with kissing his cheek or, at the most, a short peck on the lips.

That had _not _been a peck on the lips.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?"

Becker sounded so unsure that Jess had to laugh. He was gentlemanly if nothing else.

"Yes I'm sure," she said. "Good night, Hil."

"Good night, Jess."

Jess smiled and turned over a little, facing away from him. It wasn't until she was just drifting off that she realised that was the first time she'd used his first name in private.

TBC

_Up next – it's the morning of the wedding, and Becker has some serious competition._


	13. Chapter 13

I am declaring war on this story.

It's now been just under a year since I started writing it. I can't quite believe it's been that long as it doesn't feel like it to me, though I'm sure you all feel it! I'm abandoning any hope of getting it finished before its first birthday (which is this next week) but I am _hoping _to get it down by the end of February. This is a big commitment because there is quite a lot of story left. Very annoying –this story started out as a ten-chapter-at-most little fluff piece: 13 chapters and one year later…

Anyway, as always thank you very much for the reviews and the messages about this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter – it's stupidly long, and I did consider splitting it in two, but then I thought SOD IT and left it as it is.

**Chapter Thirteen**

As always, Becker woke up early. It was the same as every morning, except it… wasn't. This time the first thing Becker saw when he opened his eyes was Jess.

He'd rolled onto his side at some point in the night, so he was facing her, and she'd done the same. They weren't touching, but they were certainly a lot closer to each other than they'd started out the night before. Jess' face was only inches from Becker's, and she was still fast asleep. She was breathing gently, and a small piece of her hair was lying over her mouth, stirring a little with every breath she took.

He'd kissed her. He still couldn't quite believe he'd done that. But he'd… well, he'd wanted to. And there she was, telling him to… he wasn't one to ignore a direct order.

And wow. He wasn't sure what would have happened if Ronnie hadn't come back in. Obviously Jess'd known she would, and that's why she told Becker to kiss her in the first place, but if she _hadn't_… he wasn't sure if he would have stopped quite so promptly. He knew it was all just for show, just part of the pretence, but that kiss had been something else. Her lips had been so soft under his, and her hands so warm against his shoulders, and he'd felt the way her fingers had tightened against his t-shirt…

Becker decided it was time for his morning run. He was just about to get up when there was a knock on the door.

Jess started awake, her eyes flying open at the sound. "Wh-" she said groggily, blinking a couple of times before focusing on Becker. She frowned.

There was another knock on the door. Becker sat up, staring across the darkened room, and then Jess sat up as well and turned on the reading light on her side of the bed. "What time is it?" She asked.

Becker looked at his watch as he swung his legs out of bed. "Quarter to seven," he told her. It was actually quite late for him.

"Who could be –" Jess began, but she was cut off by another knock on the door, this time accompanied by a high-pitched voice.

"Auntie Jess!"

Becker's eyebrows shot up. "That's Jake," he said. He glanced at Jess and saw she was staring at the door with wide eyes. It was only then that he registered the _Auntie _Jess. Becker bit back a smile and hurried across the room to unlock and open the door.

Sure enough, Jake was on the other side of it. He'd obviously just got out of bed – he was wearing a pair of dinosaur pyjamas and his hair was sticking up all over the place. Becker smiled at him. "Good morning, Jake," he said.

Jake smiled back. "Hi Uncle Hil," he said. Then he pushed straight past him and ran for the bed. "Auntie Jess, look what I made you!"

Jess was sitting up in the bed and went to get up as Jake approached, but he clambered up onto the bed instead and plopped down next to her, holding out a piece of heavy paper. "It's a diictodon!"

Jess took the paper from him and examined it with a smile. "I can see that," she said. "And is that the tunnel it made?"

"Yep!" Jake said happily.

Jess grinned and bent down to kiss Jake on the forehead. "Thanks Jake, I love it," she said. Jake's grin was so wide it practically split his face in two, and Becker couldn't help but smile himself. The poor kid – he was so whipped.

"Jake! Jake come back here right now!" Becker turned to the sound of the hushed voice – it was Tabby, and her tone was the age-old one of an apoplectically angry mother yelling for her child but trying not to disturb others with her rage.

Becker leant against the doorframe and smirked as Tabby round the corner. She'd also obviously just got out of bed, and didn't look happy about it. "Morning," he said cheerfully. "I think I have what you're looking for."

Tabby gave him a look that was part relieved, part apologetic but mostly exasperated. "I'm so sorry," she said, hurrying over to him. "I told him last night that he couldn't give her the picture until the morning…"

Becker shrugged. "So technically he's doing what he's told."

Tabby rolled her eyes and pushed past Becker into the suite. Jake was cuddled up against Jess' side talking a mile a minute about dinosaurs, of all things. And had he said 'diictodon' earlier? Becker had a feeling that there was a conversation Jess hadn't told him about.

"Jacob Anthony Holden," Tabby said crossly, striding over to the bed. "I told you before – _do not leave the room without me_."

"I needed to show my picture to Auntie Jess," Jake protested.

"Auntie Jess was asleep," Tabby said. "So what you've done is woken her up and disturbed her. Did you say sorry?"

To Becker's amusement, Jake _did _actually look repentant as he turned to Jess. "Sorry Auntie Jess," he said.

Becker could see that Jess was struggling not to laugh as she smiled down at his nephew. "I forgive you, Jake," she said, "but you should say sorry to your Mum."

Jake sighed heavily and turned back to Tabby. "Sorry, Mummy," he said plaintively.

Becker caught Jess' eye over Tabby's shoulder and grinned at her. She grinned back before turning back to Jake to nod at something he was saying to her. Tabby sat down on the other side of Jake, and Becker decided that now would be a good time to go for his run.

When he got back just under an hour later Jake and Tabby were gone and Jess was out of bed and dressed. She smiled when he walked in, and he smirked at her. "Your boyfriend gone?" He asked her teasingly.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't be so mean," she said. "He's a sweetheart."

"I'm not sure how I feel about competing with my four-year-old nephew," Becker said.

Jess just shook her head.

Becker's eyes fell on the table next to the door where he'd put the drawing Millie gave him yesterday. Jess had put Jake's drawing next to it – as far as Becker could see it was a grey squiggle with sticks for legs and two brown lines representing a tunnel. He smiled.

"How does Jake know you like diictodons?" Becker asked Jess.

"I told him yesterday," Jess said. "He loves dinosaurs – and t-rexes are his favourite."

Becker rolled his eyes. "That's only because he's never met one," he said. "I'm going to have a quick shower, and then we'll get breakfast?"

Jess smiled and nodded. "Sounds good."

Most of the rest of Becker's family were down in the small dining room where the hotel served breakfast when they got down there. All of his sisters were there with their kids and spouses – except for Francis, since he was the groom and had stayed with friends the night before to avoid seeing Carrie before the wedding. Carrie and Ross were just finishing their breakfast, and Becker noticed Ross had his headphones on again and Carrie looked especially stressed out.

Ronnie and Mindy were sitting on a bigger table together with their kids, and Tabby's lot had clearly just sat down as they didn't have any food yet. Becker and Jess entered the room hand in hand, and the first person to spot them was Jake.

"Auntie Jess!" He cried out, looking delighted to see her. He jumped up and ran over to them and – Becker wasn't quite sure how he managed to do this – stepped in between Becker and Jess and slipped his hand in between their clasped ones, replacing Becker's hand with his. Becker looked down at his nephew in surprise, and Jake gave him a brief, but very noticeable, look of triumph as he pulled Jess away from him. Becker's jaw dropped.

"Do you want juice? They have juice over here," Jake said, tugging on Jess' hand and starting to lead her away. She looked over her shoulder at Becker, looking a little surprised. Becker just raised his hands in a surrender pose, starting to smirk.

"Sure Jake, let's get some juice," Jess said, turning back to Jake.

Tabby appeared next to Becker, watching Jess and Jake walk over to the other side of the room. Becker raised an eyebrow at her. "Your son is trying to steal my girlfriend," he told her.

Tabby raised an eyebrow right back at him. "It looks like he's succeeding," she said. She grinned. "We saved the two of you seats – Jake insisted." She shrugged. "Well, he insisted on saving a seat for Jess, and I thought you might want one too."

Becker laughed. "Thanks," he said. He went over to Tabby's table and sat down next to her husband John, who was currently calling across the room to try and get Millie to come and sit down and stop pestering Olivia.

Becker grinned and picked up the breakfast menu – his family were a bit of a pain, but they weren't dull. Jess and Jake joined them a few minutes later, Jake carefully carrying a glass of orange juice, and Jess balancing five more glasses and a pitcher full of juice.

"Uncle Hil!"

"Hi Millie," Becker said, smiling at his niece as she jumped onto the seat next to him. "You okay?"

"Yep!" She said. She was practically bouncing with excitement, and Becker guessed it was something to do with the wedding being in a few hours. "I made you this." She held out another drawing to him, and Becker took it with a grin.

"Thanks sweetheart, it's…" His eyes widened. "Is that me with a t-rex?"

Millie grinned. "Yep! Auntie Jess said you like them," she explained.

So that was another one of his sisters' kids calling her _Auntie Jess_… but Becker was more interested in what else Millie'd said. "Oh, did she?" Becker asked, glancing up at Jess. She was smirking, and hid behind her menu as soon as Becker looked at her. He leant down and kissed Millie on the forehead. "I love it, thanks Millie."

"_Ross_!"

Carrie's voice carried above the chatter of the dining room, and Becker's head snapped round to look over at his sister. She was frowning at Ross, and looked like she was at the end of her tether. Ross pushed back his headphones and glared at her. "_What_?" He demanded stroppily.

Carrie took a deep breath, as if she was trying to calm down. "I was _saying _that I need to sort out some things down here – I need to set up the photos, and go over the menu, and make sure the seating plan is correct," she said.

Ross shrugged. "Okay," he said. "So?"

"So I thought you might want to…"

Ross pushed back his chair. "I'm going back to my room," he said.

"Ross –"

He stood up, glaring again. "I don't care, okay? I just don't care."

Becker was across the room, but he saw the tears in Carrie's eyes as Ross turned on his heel and walked away.

Becker frowned and threw his menu down on the table. "Excuse me," he said, before standing up and striding across the room to the door of the dining room, cutting off Ross' escape.

"Hey," he said as Ross stopped short in front of him. "Where you going?"

Ross scowled. "To my room," he said shortly. He tried to step round Becker, but he moved and blocked his way again.

"You're not going to stay down here and help?" Becker said, already knowing what the answer would be.

Sure enough, Ross' scowl deepened and he tried to dodge round him the other way – to no avail. "No, I'm going to my room," he said. "Get out of the way Uncle Hil."

Becker returned Ross' scowl and put a heavy hand on his shoulder. "No," he said. "Unfortunately for you, you're still young enough for me to do this." And Becker bent down and lifted Ross off his feet, flipping him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. He was a lot heavier than the last time Becker had picked him up like this – which made sense because that was at least three years ago – but he wasn't too heavy for Becker.

"Uncle Hil!" He yelled. "Let me go!"

Becker ignored him, and turned to look at Jess and Tabby, who were both gaping at him. "We'll be back in a minute," he said. He glanced at Carrie and saw that she too was staring at him with her mouth open.

"Let me GO!" Ross yelled again.

"Keep your voice down, Ross – people are trying to have breakfast," Becker said airily.

In response, Ross punched Becker in the back. Becker rolled his eyes and walked out of the dining room. He got some odd looks as he strode across the reception hall, but no one said anything as he made his way to the nearest saloon; it was empty, luckily, so Becker closed the door behind them and then unceremoniously dumped Ross on one of the sofas.

"I can't believe you did that!" Ross exclaimed angrily.

Becker sat down next to him and gave him an unimpressed look. "Yeah, well, don't try to escape," he said. "So – what's going on with you?"

Ross scowled and slouched back against the sofa cushions, folding his arms over his chest. "Nothing," he insisted.

"We aren't leaving this room until you tell me what's wrong," Becker said. Ross didn't say anything, just sat glaring at the wall.

Becker scooted closer to Ross and leant forward. "Ross, you just made my sister cry on her wedding day – you _will_ tell me what's going on."

Becker saw a flash of guilt in Ross' eyes – just the briefest moment, but it was there, and it gave him hope that his sweet and cheeky nephew hadn't completely morphed into a stroppy uncaring teenager.

"Well if she's that upset about it maybe she shouldn't be getting married," he said quietly.

Becker's eyes widened and he looked at Ross with genuine surprise. "You don't think she should be getting married?" He said. Ross looked away and didn't say anything. Becker frowned, pretty confused. "I thought you liked Francis," he said. Francis and Carrie had started dating when Ross was eight, years ago, and Ross had always loved him. "You've never had a problem with him before…"

"I don't have a problem with Francis," Ross said sullenly.

Becker shook his head. "Then why do you think they shouldn't be getting married?"

Ross glanced at Becker briefly before looking away again. He was silent for a long moment, but Becker didn't ask the question again, not wanting to push him when he felt he was finally getting somewhere.

Eventually Ross shifted in his seat and spoke to his feet. "Mum's changing her name," he said.

Becker raised an eyebrow. "Yeah…" he said. "That happens when women get married."

Ross looked at Becker and he saw his nephew was back to glaring, so he'd clearly said something very wrong.

"So what about my Dad?" Ross demanded.

To say that Becker was surprised at this point would be the understatement of the century. Ross had never had an issue with his Dad. Growing up he'd talked about him a lot, asked a lot of questions about what he was like, but he'd never been depressed over his premature death, or bitter because of it. He'd never had a problem with his Mum dating, especially once she'd met Francis.

"Your… your Dad," Becker repeated slowly, really not sure what to say.

"You knew my Dad," Ross said, suddenly turning to Becker with an intense look.

Becker blinked. "Yeah, of course I did," he said.

"You think he would be okay with my Mum just marrying someone else and forgetting all about him?" Ross demanded.

Becker gaped at him. "I don't – she isn't –" he stammered, still so shocked by the turn in the conversation.

"I mean, would _you_ be okay with it?" Ross pressed on. "You're a soldier – if something happened to you, would _you _be okay with Jess just marrying someone else? Well?"

Becker blinked and sat back a little. It was hardly the time to point out to Ross that Jess wasn't _actually _his girlfriend, and really for the purpose of his question she might as well as been. He was well beyond denying his feelings for Jess – to himself, at least – and the truth was he _hated _the thought of her with someone else. He'd never really thought of it before now, but it was like a stab to the gut. It was in that moment that he realised that while he might not be denying his feelings for Jess to himself anymore, he hadn't known how deep those feelings were until he thought about losing her.

Ross was still staring at him, and Becker pulled himself back to the task at hand.

"No, I wouldn't," he told Ross truthfully. "The thought of Jess being with someone else is… I hate it."

Ross gave him a look of triumph, but Becker was quick to continue, placing a hand on his nephew's shoulder. "But what I hate more is the thought of Jess being alone for the rest of her life. And I bet you anything your Dad felt the same way."

Ross was looking doubtful, and Becker sighed. "Look, when you choose to become a soldier, you know what you're letting yourself in for. You know that there's a very strong chance that you might not make it back home," he said. "And that can be difficult for your family and your loved ones to deal with, and them worrying about you is something you have to live with."

Becker remembered when he'd told his family he was joining the army. It was hardly a surprise to them – he'd been in the Cadets all through school and had always said that was what he was going to do, but saying it and doing it were two very different things. His parents hadn't been a problem, but his sisters hadn't taken the news all that well. Carrie especially had been dead set against it, and had begged him not to. Since their argument that day she or the other three had barely said a word to him about his profession. They didn't ask questions about what he did, ever.

"But not a single soldier I know would want their loved ones to be unhappy for the rest of the lives if something happened to them. Not a single one." Becker said it firmly and with conviction, and Ross dropped his head forward, staring at the floor again.

Becker shifted round so he was sitting next to Ross properly, and put his arm around the back of the sofa, not quite hugging him. He cleared his throat. "I wasn't much older than you are now when your Dad died, but I remember how devastated your Mum was," he said. "She loved your Dad so much, she almost fell apart. The one thing that kept her going was you." He felt Ross look round at him, but he didn't look at him in turn. "Looking after you and loving you helped her get through what happened, but she didn't get over it. She was never the same after your Dad died. She still isn't, not entirely, but since she's been with Francis she's a lot more like I remember."

He looked at Ross then, and saw that his nephew had tears in his eyes. "I just feel like everyone's forgetting he even existed," he said. "I never even knew him and now… I want Mum to be happy, I do, but I just…"

"No one is forgetting your Dad," Becker said firmly. "Your Mum would never do that. She loved him so much. But remembering someone doesn't mean you have to live in the past."

A couple of tears spilled over, and Ross quickly wiped them away. "But if I take Francis' name it's like I'm abandoning him."

Becker turned to face him. "No one's expecting you to take his name," he said. He hadn't discussed this with Carrie, but he couldn't believe that she or Francis was insisting Ross did anything of the sort.

"But if I don't and Mum does, then it's like I'm not the same family," Ross said, staring at the floor again. "They might have kids and then they'll be Huhnes and I'll still be Welling and…"

"Ross, names have nothing to do with family," Becker said firmly. Ross didn't look convinced, and so Becker shrugged. "Look, if it means that much to you, you can have a double-barrelled name. Welling-Huhne."

Ross looked thoughtful. "I could do that?"

"Of course you could," Becker said. "Just talk to your Mum about it – but maybe _after _the wedding."

"Yeah, she's been pretty stressed out," Ross said. He gave Becker a guilty look. "I guess I haven't helped."

"I guess you haven't," Becker said sardonically, but not cruelly. He shook his head and flicked the headphones Ross had round his neck. "What have you been listening to, anyway?"

"You know, rock," Ross said, shrugging.

Becker raised an eyebrow and then pounced on him, pulling his iPod out of his pocket before he could move to stop him. "Uncle Hil!" He yelled indignantly, making a grab for it. Becker held him back with one hand and turned it on to see what was currently playing.

He gave Ross a look of disgust. "McFly?" He said. Ross went slightly pink, but met Becker's look with a defiant one. Becker smirked and handed the iPod back. "You know, Francis might not want you taking his name since you have such terrible taste in music." He stood up.

"Shut up," said Ross, though he was smiling as he stood up as well.

"Seriously, remind me to give you a lesson in what 'rock' actually is, okay?" Said Becker teasingly, pushing him towards the saloon door. "Because frankly it's just embarrassing."

"_Shut up_," Ross repeated, though he was trying not to laugh at this point.

Becker grinned, happy to see that Ross seemed better, but he stopped him before the left the room and turned him to face him. "You okay?" He asked him seriously.

Ross nodded. "Yeah," he said. Then he stepped forward and hugged Becker round the middle. "Thanks Uncle Hil."

Becker grinned again, and hugged him back. "Any time," he said. "Though next time just tell me you've got a problem – don't make me kidnap you again."

Ross let go of him and laughed. Becker smiled at him and they left the saloon together.

XXXXX

Jess wasn't entirely surprised that Becker had pulled Ross aside to try and find out what was wrong with him, but she was a little shocked that he'd literally hoisted him onto his shoulder and left the room with him. So, clearly, were the rest of his family… but none of them seemed to feel the need to go and see what Becker was doing with Ross. In fact, his sisters looked pretty pleased that he'd done what he had.

"Hil will get it out of him, whatever it is," Tabby said as they ordered their breakfast. "Ross has always loved him."

Jess looked across the room to where Mindy had joined Carrie, who was looking a little more cheerful at whatever it was her sister was saying to her. She hoped that Becker was able to sort it out, because no bride should be so upset on their wedding day. She ordered her own breakfast and played a counting game with Jake and Millie while they waited for the food to arrive.

A few minutes later, though, Ian came skidding into the room. He'd left with Georgia a little while before, but didn't have Georgia with him now. He came running straight over to Jess.

"Jess! You can fix computers, right?" He said urgently.

Jess blinked at him, a bit thrown by the unexpected question. "Um –"

"Come with me," Ian said, grabbing Jess' arm and pulling her out of her chair.

"Ian, what's going on?" Mindy called over to her husband from the other side of the room.

"Your Dad is _freaking out_," Ian told her, before starting to pull Jess out of the room with him.

"What now?" Jess heard Carrie say before they left the room behind them.

"What's happened?" Jess asked Ian.

"His laptop's broken," Ian told her, "and his speech is on there."

"Ah," Jess said. Ian led her into one of the lounges across the hallway, where they found Mr Becker standing next to one of the tables. Georgia was also there, sitting on one of the sofas and playing happily with a cloth book, but her grandfather wasn't paying her any attention. His laptop was open on the table top and he was, as Ian had said, freaking out. His hair was messy as if he'd been running his hands through it, and he looked like he was at the end of his tether. As before Jess was struck by how much he looked like his son, but she pushed that thought away as she and Ian walked towards him.

"I don't know what to do – it's just gone black now," Mr Becker said as soon as he caught sight of Ian. "I'm going to have to try and find a computer shop or something near here – I need to get it working again before the ceremony." He caught sight of Jess and frowned slightly – not nastily, but just like he didn't know why she was here.

"Jess studied Computer Sciences – let her have a look at it," Ian said, giving Jess a little push forward.

Mr Becker stared at her appraisingly. "Did you really?" He asked her.

"Yep, she has a Masters, too," Ian said before Jess could answer.

Mr Becker didn't look overwhelmingly impressed, but he did look slightly more hopeful. "Can you suggest anything?" He asked her. "My Father of the Bride speech is on the laptop and I don't have it written down anywhere else."

"I can have a look," Jess told him, walking over to the table his laptop sat on. It was quite an old model – top of the range for when it came out, but that must have been four or five years ago. Jess guessed it was probably dying of natural causes. She could feel Mr Becker and Ian staring at her as she sat down in front of the machine, but she didn't feel uncomfortable. Computers were something she understood, and she'd seen this problem before.

Jess went straight to work. The computer had several viruses and was really too old and slow to withstand them, but she rewrote some code and bypassed some of the affected systems and within a minute or so she had the desktop up. She saw a laptop bag on the floor and rooted around in it, retrieving a memory stick from the bottom of it. She quickly plugged it in and wasted no time copying Mr Becker's speech onto the stick from the desktop.

"There," she said, unplugging the memory stick again. "I wouldn't try to do anything more with this laptop – I had to bypass some systems to get into it, and it's got tons of viruses. But they should be able to print it off for you at reception." She turned in her seat and held out the memory stick to Mr Becker.

He was staring at her with his eyes so wide that she was able to ascertain that they were the exact same shade of hazel as his son's. He didn't take the memory stick from her for a few moments, and Jess started to feel a little uncomfortable. Had she done something wrong?

"You fixed it," he said eventually, sounding a little bemused.

Jess shook her head. "No, it's not fixed," she said. "I probably could get it running again if I had the right equipment with me, but to be honest you'd be better off just getting a newer model." She stood up and held the memory stick out again.

Mr Becker blinked and reached out to take the memory stick from her. "No, I meant that you saved the speech," he said. "Jessica – _thank you_."

Jess started to shrug, but he reached out his free hand and placed it on her shoulder. "Really, I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost this speech. I've spent all week working on it, and only managed to finish it last night." Then, in a move that completely stunned Jess, he leant forward and kissed her on the cheek. "Really, thank you."

Jess could feel her cheeks going pink from the praise, but also from the knowledge that she'd, by a complete fluke, managed to win the respect of Becker's dad. That was something she wasn't expecting to achieve today, and so easily too.

"You're welcome," she said, smiling at him as he dropped his hand from her shoulder. "It wasn't any trouble."

Mr Becker smiled back at her. "Well it was very impressive," he said. "So, do you work with computers?"

Jess nodded. "Yes, we have some quite complicated hardware where we work," she said.

"But if she tells you she'd have to kill you," Ian quipped from behind Mr Becker. He'd hoisted Georgia back into his arms, and was grinning at their exchange. He raised an eyebrow at Jess. "Right, Jess?"

Jess smirked at him. "Don't be silly – Hil would be the one to kill you," she said without thinking. Ian laughed but Jess regretted it instantly, sure that she'd lost Becker's dad with her flippancy, but he was still smiling when she looked back at him.

"Of course, of course," he said. "It's all classified. Hilary's work has always been classified." He stepped round Jess and started to pack the defunct laptop into the laptop case. Jess glanced at Ian and he winked at her and gave her a thumbs up. She smiled.

"You'd better get back before your eggs get cold," Ian told Jess.

"Oh, were you having breakfast?" Mr Becker said. "I'm sorry that you were dragged away."

Jess shook her head. "It's alright, we'd only just ordered so I doubt it's come out yet," she said truthfully. "Have you already had breakfast, Mr Becker? You could join us."

"Oh, please call me Ted," he said. "And yes, that would be lovely. Agatha's eating in the room, but I wanted to get the speech sorted. But now that that's all done…" He looked down at the memory stick in his hand. "Actually, I might take this to reception first – but I'll see you in the dining room," he said. He picked up the laptop bag and gave her another smile. "Thank you again."

Jess smiled back and he left the room. Ian whistled under his breath. "_Wow_," he said, looking extremely impressed. "That was amazing."

Jess rolled her eyes. "It's not that difficult if you know how," she said modestly.

"Not the computer, though that was pretty cool," said Ian. "No, I meant the way you've now got Edward wrapped round your little finger."

Jess let out a surprised laugh. "What?" She exclaimed. "I have not!"

Ian snorted. "Please," he said dismissively. "I've been married to Mindy for almost ten years, and I've only got as far as Edward. Only Agatha and his oldest friends call him Ted."

Jess rolled her eyes and started out of the room without responding, but she couldn't help a pleased little smile creeping over her as she caught sight of Mr Becker – _Ted_ –across the hall at the reception desk.

Jake and Millie had deserted the breakfast table to join the rest of the kids clustered around Olivia's iPad on the other side of the room, and as Becker wasn't back with Ross yet, Tabby and John were sitting alone at the table waiting for them. The food hadn't come out yet, something Jess was glad about. Ian immediately started telling them about Mr Becker "falling under Jess' spell" so Jess busied herself with getting another place laid at the table for him and trying to stop blushing at the way Ian was telling the story.

Tabby smirked at Jess as she sat down. "Well, it certainly sounds like you know how to charm the Becker men," she said with a wink.

_If only_, Jess thought. She couldn't say that, of course, so she just returned Tabby's smirk with a roll of her eyes and took a sip of orange juice.

Tabby looked like she was going to say something else, but Jess was reprieved by the reappearance of Becker in the doorway. Ross was with him, looking far more… well, not exactly _cheerful_, but definitely less churlish. And his headphones weren't back on. Jess and the whole family watched as Ross walked across the room to Carrie, who was watching him warily. Once he reached his mother's side he flung his arms around her neck and hugged her tightly. Carrie looked shocked for a moment, but she quickly recovered, and wrapped her arms around his back to hug him back.

Jess felt, somehow, that she was intruding on a private moment and she quickly looked away – Becker was just sliding back into his seat, and she smiled at him, feeling herself falling for him just a little bit more in that moment. There were many specific moments in their relationship that she could pinpoint as being 'falling moments' where she basically just didn't stand a chance of resisting him, and this was destined to be one of them.

Becker gave her a soft smile in return, before turning to Tabby and John. Tabby was grinning at him.

"Good boy, Hil," she said.

"I try," Becker said airily, going back to perusing his menu. No one said anything else, but Jess could see his other sisters looking over at Becker with fond, almost proud expressions on their faces. Jess smiled again.

Becker ordered his breakfast when the waiter started bringing out what was already ordered, and that was when he caught sight of the extra place at the table.

"Who's the extra chair for?" He asked.

"Your Dad," Jess told him.

Becker raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" He looked over at Tabby, who nodded.

"It seems that you've got competition from him as well as Jake," she said slyly.

"_Honestly_," Jess said, exasperated. She turned to Becker to explain. "His laptop broke down and I managed to save his Father of the Bride speech from it, and now he's going to join us for breakfast." She rolled her eyes at Tabby, who was smirking again. "That's all."

Becker nodded, smiling slightly. Tabby was silent for a moment before leaning forward across the table. "He told her to call him Ted," she said.

Both of Becker's eyebrows shot way up, and he gave Tabby an incredulous look which she returned with yet another smirk. Then he let out a surprised laugh. "Well… sound like I do have competition," he said, looking back at Jess with his eyes twinkling.

Jess just shook her head and looked away. Her eyes fell on Ronnie, who was just leaving the dining room with Olivia and David. She was looking at Becker with a strangely thoughtful expression. Jess looked back at Becker and saw that he was just turning away from her to look at Millie, who was sitting back down on his other side. Jess looked back at Ronnie again, but she was looking away too.

Jess shook herself and told herself she was imagining things, and turned to listen to Jake as he sat down next to her and began to tell her all about Olivia's new iPad.

_TBC (hopefully soon!)_


	14. Chapter 14

Check it _out_. 24 hours later – _boo yah_. You didn't believe me when I said I was declaring war, did you? Well, battle has commenced. ;-)

Not much happens here, but I did want this scene to happen, so it has. Enjoy.

**Chapter Fourteen**

"Your Dad's nice," Jess said to Becker as they left the dining room after breakfast.

"Ted, you mean?" Becker said teasingly.

Jess rolled her eyes, and he shrugged. "He's okay – he's… well he's not on the same level as my Mum, but he's not exactly what you'd call a doting father," Becker said as they walked across the foyer. "He's not very good with kids."

Jess smiled but didn't comment, though she'd noted how uncomfortable he'd been with Millie and Jake.

"We barely saw him when we were kids, because he was working all the time," Becker continued. "And he's never really made an effort since he retired." He said it matter-of-factly, but Jess couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. She was really close to both her parents… but then it had always only been just the three of them, whereas the five Becker kids had each other.

The wedding was just over two hours away, so Carrie had disappeared to start getting ready and her sisters had gone with her. Jess knew that none of them were being bridesmaids – Carrie was keeping things low key, and just had Millie and Olivia as bridesmaids, and her best friend as her maid of honour. Francis was apparently doing the same – his brother was his best man, and Ross was a groomsman, but that was it.

Apparently Becker's mother, who had had six bridesmaids, did not approve.

Jess hadn't seen the rooms where the wedding was taking place yet, but activity on the other side of the foyer gave away where it was – they were wheeling chairs through and carrying boxes of champagne glasses into a corridor off of the foyer. Jess looked through an open doorway near this corridor and saw that there were several free-standing boards near the back wall, covered in photographs. She stopped walking and peered in curiously – in the centre board was a large picture of Carrie and Francis.

"What's that?" She asked Becker.

"I think that's where we're having drinks before the reception," Becker said.

Jess peered into the room and saw that it was empty of staff. There was a bar in the corner and a long table with champagne and wine glasses on it, so she guessed Becker was right about the drinks. She looked back at Becker. "Let's have a look," she said.

Becker hesitated in the doorway. "I think they're still setting up," he said.

Jess smirked. "You're such a soldier, unable to break the rules," she said. "Would it help if I made it an order?"

Becker rolled his eyes and followed her into the room.

Jess wandered over to the picture boards. The middle board, the one with the larger picture of Carrie and Francis, had lots of pictures of the two of them together. Ross was in quite a few of them, and the rest of the kids and Becker's sisters. Jess spotted a picture of Becker with Francis, Carrie and Mindy which looked like it had been taken in the past year or so. The board to the right had photos of Francis on it – some recent, some very old; there were picture s of him as a kid and even as a baby. Jess grinned and moved over to the left-hand board, which was full of pictures of Carrie instead. Jess' eyes fell on a picture of Becker. He was sitting on a sofa holding a baby, smiling for the camera. Jess looked round at Becker behind her.

"Who is that you're holding?" She asked him, pointing to the photo.

He stepped up right behind her to look at the picture, and he smirked. "That's not me," he said. "That's my Dad – and he's holding Carrie."

Jess' eyes widened. "You're _kidding_," she said. Becker shook his head, and Jess looked back at the picture. Now that she looked at it properly she could see that it was an older photo, obviously taken in the seventies. But he looked _exactly like_ Becker did now… it was astonishing. "That's... wow," she said lamely.

Becker smiled and shrugged. He looked past her and his smile turned into a grin. "If you like this photo, you'll love that one," he said, pointing to one. Jess looked, and her jaw dropped. It was a picture of all the Becker siblings together as kids – they looked like they were on holiday somewhere, and were sitting on a wall eating ice creams and grinning for the camera. The girls were all teenagers by the looks of it, but little Becker was only about five, and it was like it was a picture of Jake.

"Oh my god," she said, peering closely at the picture. She shook her head. "I've heard the phrase spitting image before… but that is something else." She grinned. "We'll have to get a picture of the three of you together today."

Becker rolled his eyes again, and Jess looked at the photo, looking past Becker's resemblance to his nephew and just seeing it as a photo of Becker as a kid. He had chocolate ice cream smeared round his mouth and his grin was missing a tooth. He was so _adorable_. She wondered if his own kids were going to look like him, or if they would take after their mother. Whoever that would be.

Jess bit her lip and focused on the other pictures, pushing he r thoughts away from dangerous territory.

XXX

Becker glanced at the occasional photo over Jess' shoulder, but really he was watching Jess as she looked at them. He wondered if he should be embarrassed about her looking at pictures of him and his family – he'd already spotted another photo of Carrie in which he was baby wearing nothing but a nappy, and crying. He wouldn't want anyone else from work seeing these photos, but Jess was different. He didn't mind her seeing these things, learning about him. In fact he found himself wanting to share more. It felt so natural to tell her things, and in spending so much time with her the last couple of days he'd found himself opening up to her more than he'd done with anyone for a long time.

And he wasn't really sure what to do with that knowledge.

"Bring those in here – and the other two like it that are by the entrance."

Becker turned round at the sound of the voice behind them, to find a smart-looking woman had walked in, carrying a clipboard. Two men in overalls followed her, each carrying a large white vase with floral arrangements in them. She was directing them to put the flowers down by the bar, scribbling on her clipboard as she did so.

Becker looked at Jess to say that maybe they should go, but stopped when he saw that she was looking at the lady with the clipboard through narrowed eyes, as if she were annoyed about something. The two men in overalls went out the room, leaving the lady behind fussing with the flowers. Becker glanced at Jess again, and she pursed her lips. She raised an eyebrow at him and then brushed past him and walked over to the woman.

"Excuse me," Jess said brightly as she approached her. The woman looked up, and Jess gave her a big smile. "Hi there, I'm sorry to bother you – I just wanted to say the flowers look beautiful."

The woman smiled, looking pleased. "Oh, thank you," she said. "Yes, they've turned out very nicely."

Jess nodded. "The bride was telling me there was a bit of a mix-up with the roses, but it looks like it's all been sorted," she said, in a deceptively friendly tone. Becker knew it was deceptive because he'd been on the receiving end of this kind of trap a few times himself. He raised his eyebrows, wondering what Jess was up to.

The lady's smile was a little strained now, but she gave it anyway. "Yes, that was unfortunate, but luckily we were able to rush some more in," she said.

"Do you have a card?" Jess asked her. The lady's smile became more genuine and she flipped her papers aside to get out a business card from a pocket on her clipboard.

"Of course – here you go!" She said cheerfully.

"Thanks," Jess said, taking the card and reading it. "_Sophie and Margo's Occasion Flowers_… which are you?"

The lady grinned. "I'm Sophie," she said, holding out her hand.

Jess shook it, grinning back. "I'm Jess," she said. "You know I'd think, being a small business, you'd want to be more careful about the way you treat your customers."

Jess was still smiling, and her voice was still cheerful, so it took a couple of moments for Sophie to catch on to what she'd said. She frowned as Jess let go of her hand. "I… excuse me?"

"Carrie ordered the flowers over two months ago, including the yellow roses, so either you knew in advance that you wouldn't have them and lied to her, or you're just incompetent and didn't realise," Jess said, her voice now hard.

Sophie went pink. "Excuse me, but –"

"Either way," Jess continued firmly, "charging her extra for _your_ mistake is not just bad business practice, it's bordering on malpractice."

Sophie pursed her lips and drew her shoulders back defiantly. "If Carrie had a problem with the extra cost, she should have said so at the time," she said.

"You took advantage of a stressed out bride, and you know it," Jess snapped furiously. She glared at Sophie and twirled her business card around her fingers. "And just so you know, I intend to visit every single website that you're registered on to review the service, and let everyone know about the incompetence or the lying, whichever it was – and of course that we had to pay extra for it." She looked thoughtfully down at the card. "I'm guessing you get sixty, sixty-five per cent of your business from online bookings?" She raised a challenging eyebrow at Sophie, who was very pink now and seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Of course, if you were to apologise to Carrie for the unnecessary stress and drop the ridiculous extra charge, I'm sure I could forget the whole thing," Jess said, folding her arms.

Sophie looked like she was sucking a lemon at this point, and her face was bright red. She stared at Jess for a long moment, and Jess looked back at her calmly, one eyebrow raised in a silent challenge. Eventually, she swallowed. "I suppose that the extra charge is… unnecessary," she said. Jess just tilted her head to one side, still looking at her, and Sophie's lips tightened further. "I'll talk to Carrie," she added.

Jess nodded smartly. "Good," she said. The men in overalls were back, carrying two more vases, and Jess suddenly smiled again. "They really are very beautiful flowers," she said cheerfully. Then she walked back to Becker, looking absurdly pleased with herself.

It took everything Becker had in him not to grab her and kiss her when she got close enough. He hadn't known the details of the flower fiasco, but he'd picked up enough during Jess' tirade to figure out that Carrie had been badly taken advantage of. And Jess, of course, had just cut that lady down to size with just a few choice sentences. She was amazing.

"Oh my god."

Becker looked over and saw Ronnie standing in the doorway. He didn't know how long she'd been there, but from the look of sheer enjoyment on her face, he guessed long enough to have heard most of what Jess'd said. Jess had reached Becker's side now, and he put a hand on the small of her back and guided her out of the room. He couldn't resist a glance back at Sophie as he did so – she was still pink.

Ronnie stepped back and grinned at them once they were all back in the foyer. "I wish I had filmed that," she said delightedly. "The look on her face!"

Jess shrugged, though she was still smiling. "Someone had to say something, and Carrie has bigger fish to fry," she said simply.

Ronnie grinned. "Well, I just came down to look for you to ask if you want to come and get ready with the rest of us?" She said. "Carrie's in the massive bridal suite and we're all getting dressed for the wedding in there." She looked up at Becker and pointed at him. "You're not invited."

Becker gave her a mock-hurt look before rolling his eyes and looking down at Jess to see her reaction. She looked pleased at the invitation, but gave him an uncertain look when he caught her eye, as if unsure whether he'd want her to go. Becker supposed that he should be nervous about leaving her alone with his sisters for an extended time, but the way she was handling herself he didn't think she'd have any problems with them.

"That's really sweet," she said to Ronnie after a moment. "Um…"

"Come on, Jess – you must know Hil's useless at fashion," Ronnie said with a grin.

"_Please_," Becker said indignantly, gesturing to his clothes, which were perfectly fine in his opinion. The two women grinned at him, and he smiled down at Jess. "Go ahead, I'll survive," he told her.

Jess smiled back and nodded to Ronnie. "Okay, let me grab my stuff and I'll join you," she told her.

Ronnie grinned again. "Great! The suite's at the end of the corridor on the third floor," she said. "I'll see you up there." She smiled at Jess and then turned the smile on Becker, who thought he saw an odd look in her eye for a moment. It was gone quickly though, and she turned on her heel and hurried across the foyer and back up the stairs.

Becker immediately turned to Jess.

"You're brilliant," he said. Then, without really thinking about it, he bent down and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks."

Jess was blushing slightly as he pulled back, and it was enough to make him want to kiss her again. "What for?" She asked him.

Becker smiled. "For helping out my sister," he told her. "And… well, everything." She really was brilliant – no one else could have handled this weekend like her – no one.

Jess' blush darkened, and she reached up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. "You're welcome," she said after a moment. She looked up at him silently for a moment before clearing her throat and starting across the foyer.

Becker swallowed and followed her.

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

OH YEAH. YOU'RE SEEING IT. THAT'S RIGHT. THREE IN THREE. **BAM.**

_Ahem. _Yep. Just so you all know I'm back at work tomorrow, so please don't expect four in four, because you'll just be setting yourself up for disappointment. ;-)

Thank you all so much for the reviews for this story – they all really make me smile, and really spur me on to update quicker. You guys broke the 400 barrier this morning, which is amazing. I only have one other story that's done that, so I'm really overwhelmed and grateful for the feedback. I hope you enjoy this chapter – it's just a short(ish) bit of Becker introspection. Back to Jess for the next chapter.

**Chapter Fifteen**

It didn't take Becker two hours to get ready for the wedding. He showered and changed into his suit, and then lounged on the sofa for the rest of the time, pointlessly flipping through the TV channels but not really paying any attention to what was on. He guessed that the rest of his family – the males, anyway – were around somewhere should he want company, but right now he didn't.

Becker was confused.

When he'd asked Jess to come with him to the wedding it had been out of desperation, because he'd hated the idea of coming alone and being at his sisters' mercy once again. He hadn't expected it to be so easy to pretend with her, but they'd fooled everyone, even Ronnie. Jess had got everyone in his family under her spell (his mother _did not _count), and they all loved her. And for the last half a day or so, Becker had found that the times they were with other people, when they were pretending to be together, were the times that were easiest for him to cope with. Because those were the times that he was able to look at her, and touch her, and even kiss her, without it being weird. It was when they were alone that Becker felt like he was pretending. He'd been ignoring his growing feelings for Jess for months now, but two days alone with her here and he'd fallen for her. Hard.

So really, he wasn't confused so much as… uncertain.

He wasn't sure what to do next. His body was telling him to just throw caution to the wind and grab her and kiss like her like he'd wanted to do all day. Ever since he'd kissed her the night before he'd been aching to do so again. But kissing Jess without the safety net of them 'pretending' brought with it a whole mess of problems. He wasn't ready for Jess to know the way he felt about her. He wasn't worried that she didn't feel the same way – he wasn't completely stupid – but in a way knowing that she had feelings for him too made it worse. It would be so easy to start something with Jess… and so easy to mess it up. He cared about Jess a lot, too much to risk ruining what they had only to hurt her. His track record with relationships wasn't exactly stellar, and Jess was one of his closest friends. Besides, what if he'd been reading it all wrong all this time and she _didn't _have feelings for him? He was pretty clueless where women were concerned, so maybe he was completely mistaken.

So really, he wasn't uncertain so much as a complete coward.

Becker came to this conclusion quite quickly, and so spent a lot of the two hours glaring at the television and arguing with himself about why he was such a coward. Eventually it was time to go downstairs, so he shucked on his jacket and left the suite – he actually found that he felt better for leaving the room, and realised it was because he was looking forward to seeing Jess again.

Had he always been this pathetic, or was it a new development?

The foyer was full of people when Becker got to the top of the stairs - they were obviously there for the wedding, and hotel staff were busy taking coats and directing people through to the room where the wedding would take place, but most of the them were milling around talking. Becker recognised some people in the crowd – extended family and friends of his sister that he hadn't seen for years, but he was immediately scanning the crowd for Jess. He spotted Mindy straight away, across the room with Georgia in her arms, so he knew they weren't all still getting ready. Next he spotted Ronnie, who was standing next to her husband and talking to their great-aunt Janette.

Becker kept scanning, and a few moments later he heard a squeal of laughter. He looked over and saw that it was Noel who was laughing, and it was because a woman in red was tickling him. Todd joined his brother a moment later, quickly followed by Jake, who stepped possessively in between the woman and his cousin to say something to her. She had her back to Becker, but he could tell from Jake's behaviour that he'd found Jess.

Smiling to himself, he jogged down the rest of the steps and wound his way through the crowd towards her. He had to say hello to a couple of people for politeness' sake, but he got through the crowd pretty quickly. He kept his eyes on Jess as he got nearer, and so he saw Mindy come over and round up Todd and Noel, and then Tabby do the same for Jake. People were starting to drift through into the other room now for the ceremony, and once Jake had left her side Jess stood up properly and looked around, presumably for him.

For just a moment the crowd cleared enough to give Becker a perfect, unblocked view of Jess. He stopped in his tracks.

Jess was always careful about what she wore. She was always colour-coordinated, always pristine in her appearance, always looked like she'd stepped out of a magazine. She wore dresses or skirts – short ones – every single day, so Becker was used to seeing her legs. She also wore ridiculously high heels, so he was used to seeing said legs shown off to their best advantage.

Even so, right at this moment, she was quite literally stunning.

The dress she was wearing was deep, _deep _red, practically burgundy, and even from halfway across the foyer Becker could see it was made of silk. It draped down intricately in front, kind of gathering together in an elegant knot before falling to her mid-thigh, and was shorter one side of her legs than the other. Just before she turned round Becker saw that at the back the dress draped down from the shoulder in a single graceful arc showing about half of her back before sweeping back up to her other side. Her right shoulder was completely bare. Her heels were red black strappy stilettos that criss-crossed over her feet and round her ankles, making her bare legs seem miles longer than usual. Her fingernails and toenails were the same colour as her dress, and her lips were too. She didn't have much eye makeup on, just enough to make her eyes pop and appear smoky at the same time, and her hair was down in loose curls around her shoulders.

She spotted Becker and smiled at him – Becker gulped.

"There you are!" She said, walking over to him. How she could walk so quickly and gracefully in those heels Becker would never know.

Becker cleared her throat as she drew near. "Hi," he said weakly.

Jess grinned. "Isn't this exciting?" She said. "I love weddings. Wait until you see Carrie – she looks so beautiful!"

Becker smiled at her enthusiasm, but his smile faded as she suddenly stepped right up to him. He wondered what she was doing for a moment before she reached out and straightened his tie. He gulped again.

"There you go," she said, smiling up at him. "Though we should steal one of Sophie's flowers for your buttonhole." She turned away from him and hurried over to the room they'd been in earlier, with the photos. He followed her at a distance, watching with a smile as she checked that no one was around before plucking one of the yellow roses from the nearest vase. She hurried back over, holding the rose triumphantly.

The foyer was practically empty now, and Becker felt a stab of disappointment – if only his family were around, he'd feel no qualms about touching her, maybe even kissing her the way he wanted to, but if he gave in to temptation now it wouldn't be pretend, it would be him… and as realised earlier, he was a coward.

Jess made short work of tucking the flower into his button hole, her brow furrowing slightly as she concentrated on getting it to sit right. Becker held his hands stiffly at his side to prevent them for reaching for her, but he had to say something, coward or not.

"Jess, you…" She looked up at him when he said her name, and he trailed off uncertainly. He swallowed and tried to pull himself together. "…Look really nice," he finished lamely. _Really nice_ – understatement of the century. Becker almost rolled his eyes at his choice of words, but stopped himself just in time.

Jess didn't seem to mind his phrasing. She smiled, and her cheeks went slightly pink as she looked up at him. "Thanks, Hil," she said.

Becker raised an eyebrow. "That's the second time you've called me Hil when no one else is around," he noted.

Jess' eyes widened and her cheeks got pinker, but she just shrugged and looked away. "Force of habit," she said. "Don't worry, it's only for the weekend."

"I don't mind," Becker said quietly. Jess looked back up at him, looking a bit surprised, and Becker found himself just staring at her. He wasn't sure how to stop, but he knew he had to look away… and not only because they had a wedding to get to.

"Oi lovebirds – there's a wedding about to start."

Becker started and looked away towards the voice – it was John, Ronnie's husband, and Ronnie was standing just behind him, smirking just like he was. Becker glanced at Jess and saw she was smoothing down the front of her dress and smiling at John and Ronnie – Becker pulled himself together and rolled his eyes at John as if he was annoyed at the interruption. He tried to ignore the fact that he actually was.

"We've saved you seats near us," Ronnie said. Then she grabbed John by the sleeve and pulled him away.

Becker started to reach for Jess' hand but changed his mind. He cleared his throat and offered her his arm instead. "Miss Parker?" He said teasingly.

Jess grinned, and Becker smiled back, glad that the tense moment had passed. "Why, thank you, Captain," she replied as she took his arm. Becker grinned and they started down the corridor towards the large room where the wedding would be taking place.

"Just to warn you," Jess said as they neared the door, "I'm going to cry my eyes out."

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

Sorry for the delay – I've been really busy at work and RL in general, and this chapter's one of those annoying not-much-happens-but-it's-important-to-the characters ones that are actually really hard to write. We're getting to the good stuff though – slowly but surely… And I'm still trying to get it done by the end of Feb… yeah. :/

As always, thanks for the feedback, you guys are awesome!

**Chapter Sixteen**

"Are you okay now?"

Jess turned away from Becker's sardonic face, and dabbed her damp eyes with a tissue. "I'm fine," she mumbled.

"You sure?" Becker said, in a mock-serious tone.

Jess rolled her eyes. "I told you I would cry," she said, turning back to him defiantly.

Becker smirked and leaned back against the doorjamb behind him. "Yeah, but I thought you meant a tear or two," he said. "I didn't expect you to have a break down."

Jess could feel her cheeks flaming up a little, and she twisted her tissue in her hands. "I always cry at weddings," she said.

Becker's smirk widened, and he shook his head. "Lester told me that you cried at Jenny's wedding, but I thought he was joking," he said. "He wasn't, was he?"

Jess pursed her lips, and Becker grinned. "You weren't even there!" He said.

"I watched through the monitor!" Jess protested. She sniffed. "It was lovely."

Becker started laughing. "You've never even met her," he said, pushing off from the door.

"I could still appreciate the… you know what, shut up!" Jess huffed. Becker laughed again, and she rolled her eyes again. She tucked the sodden tissue into her handbag and swiped her fingers under her eyes.

"Urgh I must be a complete mess," she said, almost to herself.

"You're perfect," Becker said. Jess looked up at him, a little surprised, and he quickly looked away from her. She tucked her hair behind her ear and gestured to the foyer with a nod of her head – Becker nodded back.

They were in the corridor outside where the wedding ceremony had just finished. Most of the other guests had already moved away down to the room where drinks were being served, but Jess (and Becker) had stayed behind so she could try to stem the flow of her tears. Jess was pretty sure Becker was never going to let her live it down.

But it had been such a _lovely _wedding. Ted had looked so proud as he walked Carrie down the aisle, and she'd looked so beautiful, and they'd written their own vows which were so moving, and Francis had played a song for her… Jess had been a goner from the moment Carrie and Ted appeared in the doorway.

Jess headed towards the room with the drinks, Becker dogging her heels the whole way. Jess concentrated on weaving her way through the crowd and didn't look at him as she walked. In a way, she was quite glad that she'd had tears in her eyes for the past forty minutes, because _damn_ could that man wear a suit. He was dressed in charcoal grey, with a matching grey shirt and a dark blue tie. She'd seen him walk down the stairs into the foyer of the hotel and it was like her stomach had flipped over. You'd think that after almost a year of seeing the man every day she would have got used to his male-model-stroke-rugged-movie-star good looks but no: all he had to do was throw on a suit and she found it hard to breathe.

Luckily she'd been surrounded by young kids at the time, so she'd had an excuse to look away and pretend like she hadn't seen him. And also to mentally prepare herself for having to face him properly. She thought she'd handled it quite well – in fact, she had a sneaky suspicion that _he _had actually been a little bit dumbstruck by _her_.

It seemed incredible to Jess that Becker would be so affected by her in a slightly fancy dress, but when the kids had run off and she'd finally looked back up at him he'd been _staring _at her, slack-jawed and frozen to the spot. He'd snapped out of it as soon as she'd smiled at him, so Jess was quite prepared to believe that she'd imagined it. But then at the beginning of the wedding, before Jess had started crying, he'd given her this smile… and then just now he'd said she looked perfect…

To be honest, Jess couldn't wait for this all to be over. She'd enjoyed meeting his family and learning more about him, and she'd enjoyed spending time with him, but she couldn't handle all the pretence for much longer. Because she was starting to really feel like it was real, or could be real, or something like that, and the lines between real and pretend were starting to get blurry for her. Especially if she was starting to think that Becker was giving her any kind of _special smiles _or looks or anything… even if she wasn't imagining it, she was reading far too much into it. _He was putting on a show for his family, and that was it_.

And if she wasn't careful, she was going to make a complete fool of herself.

Jess steeled herself and reached back for Becker's hand as they entered the room with the photos, where they'd been earlier. A waiter handed them both glasses of champagne from a silver tray, and they were quickly joined by Tabby and Mindy, who were both gushing about the wedding. Jess grinned and happily picked over the wedding with them, and started to relax a little – though Becker still held her hand tightly in his own.

Ross came hurrying over to them after a couple of minutes, looking a little stressed, but happy. "You guys need to go outside for family photos," he told them, before hurrying over to the other side of the room to give Ronnie the same message. The big French doors of the room were both standing open, and a few people had spilled out onto the patio outside, which is where the photos were being taken.

Jess let go of Becker's hand and gave him a little shove on the arm. "Go on then," she said. "Don't forget to smile."

"You're coming too, Jess," Mindy said. To prove her point, she linked her arm through Jess' and started to walk determinedly towards the patio doors.

Jess stumbled slightly, trying to turn away to look back at Becker. "Um, I don't –" Before she could see him, Tabby appeared on her other side and put her hand on the small of her back, also propelling her forward.

"Of course you are," she agreed with her sister.

Jess had no choice but to let them push and pull her out onto the patio, where they joined the small group of Becker's and Francis' families and the wedding party that was congregated there. They were taking the photos on the other side of the patio with the sweeping hotel gardens as the backdrop, and some steps in the other direction led down to a large marquee where the tables for the dinner were set.

More and more of the guests were spilling out onto the patio, some watching the photos and some wandering down to the marquee. Jess wondered if she'd be allowed to escape down the stairs with those people – she could easily get lost in the crowd. Tabby had moved away, but Jess' arm was still through Mindy's, and when she tried to slip it loose Mindy pinned her arm between her own and her side, and grabbed hold of her hand. She gave Jess an uncharacteristically stern look. "Don't you dare," she whispered.

Jess looked round for Becker – he was only a couple of feet away, but when Jess gave him a pleading look he just returned it with a confused frown. Jess let out an exasperated sigh – honestly, the man was hopeless.

There were photos of the bride and groom, then them with the bridesmaids and groomsmen (Millie looked like she was going to burst with pride in her pretty pink dress), then with Francis' parents, then with Carrie's parents, then with _both _sets of parents, then with Ross… and then the dreaded moment arrived.

"Okay, let's get a photo of the rest of the bride's family," the photographer announced.

They all surged forward, and Jess was pulled along with Mindy in the middle of the group. She tottered on her heels, trying to escape Mindy's clutches, and Mindy eventually turned to face her. "Jess, stop being ridiculous," she said. "You're in the photo."

"But I –" Jess met Becker's eyes again – he looked surprised at his sister's words and tone, and gave Jess a questioning look.

Carrie was only a couple of feet away and overheard what Mindy said. "Oh Jess, of course you are!" She exclaimed. "Get in here."

And then suddenly Ted was there too, taking hold of Jess' other arm and pulling her over to stand next to him, the rest of Becker's family were closing ranks around her, kids were lining up in front of her, Mindy left her side to be replaced by Becker himself, and it was all Jess could do to smile for the camera. There was another one without the kids, and one with just Mrs Becker, Becker's sisters and Jess (she tried to escape again before that one but was unceremoniously pulled back into place by Mindy and Tabby), and then another of all the couples without Becker's parents. She was only able to escape when it was time for a picture of just the Becker siblings, and she quickly moved away to the other side of the patio, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

The wedding photos. She was _in the wedding photos_. With all her worrying over the other aspects of the wedding, the official photos had completely slipped her mind. If she _had_ thought about them she would have expected to just be in the group shot if there was one – certainly not the family photos.

For the first time since they'd arrived, Jess started to feel guilty. She'd been so focused on maintaining their cover and keeping up the pretence that she hadn't given any thought to the consequences of keeping up the pretence. But the truth was that for the last two days she'd been lying through her teeth to Becker's entire family, and they had done nothing to deserve it.

She looked round at where Becker and his sisters were being photographed together. He looked happy – they all did – and Jess knew that he was glad everything had worked out as well as it had. She also knew that he would disagree with her assessment of his sisters' not being deserving of being lied to. But now that Jess thought about it in those terms, she couldn't _stop_ thinking of it.

This had got way out of hand.

A couple of photos later, Becker was free and made his way straight over to Jess. She checked none of his family were near enough to hear her, and got directly to the point.

"That wasn't good," she said in a low voice.

Becker gave her a reassuring smile and put his hand on her shoulder. She guessed it was to comfort her, but since he clearly didn't have a clue why she was upset, Jess found it a little condescending… and she also had to ignore the fact that his calloused palm was pressed against her bare skin.

"Jess, relax – it was just some photos," he said quietly.

"It was their _wedding _photos," Jess hissed, glaring at him a little. He really was completely clueless sometimes. "As in the photos they're going to look back at and show their friends and family for the _rest of their lives_." She shook her head and turned away, looking out over the grounds. Becker's hand dropped off her shoulder. "And now they're going to have some random woman in them forever… "

"You're not some random woman, Jess," Becker said immediately, his voice firm and sure. She felt him step closer to her, but she didn't look at him. "They wanted you in the photos – they love you."

Jess sighed. "They won't when they know the truth," she said. She finally looked back at him, to find that he was right to her, practically pressing up against her. She resisted the urge to step back, and stared at him for a moment. He still looked a little confused, and Jess sighed again. "I just worry about how far we're taking this," she said.

Becker stared down at her for a long moment, and then nodded. "Yeah," he said. He took a step back, putting some space between them, and Jess shivered slightly from the sudden loss of his body heat. She glanced at him to see if he'd noticed, but he was staring out over the grounds like she had a moment before.

They stood there in silence for a minute or two until one of the hotel staff asked the guests to make their way to the marquee. Jess squared her shoulders and smoothed down her dress, and offered Becker a small smile.

"Come on," she said, "we still have a job to do. We can figure it out later."

Becker nodded and reached out for her hand, and the two of them joined the rest of the guests heading for the marquee.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

Yeah, so, my end of February deadline was a pipe dream. I doubt that any of you are surprised… Sorry, I'm just very busy with work and RL in general. But I'm still determined to get this done as soon as possible.

So, for this chapter, I was intending to use a Whitney Houston song as the first dance (RIP), but I changed it to the song I chose in recognition of the best wedding dance scene I've ever seen on a TV show ever – kudos if you know what show after reading it.

Anyway, enjoy!

**Chapter Seventeen**

Jess tried to put her guilt aside and concentrate on keeping up the act when they got into the marquee, but it was difficult. The reason they'd done so well the last couple of days was because she'd been able to relax into it – it was just pretend, and it didn't matter. Now though, not only did she feel really bad about deceiving Becker's family, she was also starting to feel like it wasn't just pretend, and it was very confusing. And definitely not relaxing.

Becker, sitting next to her, was quiet and looked thoughtful, and Jess regretted telling him about her feelings on their little pretence – he'd been doing so well, and now it seemed she had managed to snap him back into awkward. Despite her sudden discomfort over what they were doing, she still didn't want the truth to come out – not during the wedding, at least – so they needed to keep it up for the rest of the day.

She reached down and squeezed Becker's arm, and smiled at him when he looked at her. "I'm sorry I made a fuss back there," she said quietly. "We're okay, right?"

Becker nodded. "Of course," he said.

Jess smiled again. "Just one more day," she said.

Becker looked at her for a long moment before nodding and smiling back. "Yeah," he said.

They were interrupted then by Millie and Olivia coming over to tell their Uncle Hil something, and Jess turned in her chair to talk to Ian on her other side as the serving staff brought out the starters.

Jess did start to relax during the dinner – it was a wedding after all, and she did love them. The food was great and sitting at a table with Becker's sisters and their kids was certainly entertaining. No one was better at bringing Becker out of his usual stern façade than his nephews and nieces, and soon he was visibly more relaxed and Jess allowed herself to relax too.

The starters and main courses passed, and as coffee and desserts were offered round the speeches began. Francis spoke first, which made Jess cry again. Then Ted did his speech, and Jess cried again again, though she managed to return his wave and smile at him when he was finished. Becker rolled his eyes when she saw their exchange, and Jess grinned sheepishly. Then Carrie broke with tradition and stood up to do a speech of her own.

"I'm not really one for making long speeches, so I won't keep you long," she started. "I just wanted to say… looking around here, I see lots of old friends. Friends who were at another wedding fourteen years ago. I remember thinking, on that day, that my life was just starting. That I'd never been so happy, or excited for the future. After Ross died, it was four long months before I felt any kind of excitement or happiness again, and that was when I first held our beautiful son in my arms for the first time. He's been my rock for almost thirteen years, and I know that without him I wouldn't have gotten to where I am today. He's been my life, and I'm so grateful for him. And I'm so sad that he never… never knew his father, who I know would be so proud of him." Carrie paused to take deep breath and smile at Ross, who was in tears and trying to hide it.

"Ross gave meaning to my life after I thought it had lost all meaning, but I was living for him, and in the moment. I didn't think that that was a bad thing, until I met Francis. It was only since meeting him that I started to think of the future again, that I started to feel that same kind of excitement that I used to have when I was younger. And I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart for giving that back to me. And I want him to know that right now, today, I can feel that same sense of happiness, and excitement for the future that I had fourteen years ago. I'm so excited to be your wife."

The last part was addressed straight to Francis, who was also in tears. In fact, pretty much everyone in the marquee was crying. Jess, of course, had tears streaming down her cheeks, and she could see that Becker's sisters were all crying as well. Carrie sat back down and everyone applauded and tried to wipe away their tears at the same time. Jess dabbed her eyes with her napkin and looked up at Becker, expecting him to be smirking at her or something. Instead, she was shocked to see that he too was wiping away a tear.

"Hil?" She said quietly.

"Hmm? What? I'm fine," he said defensively.

Jess tried to keep a straight face, but failed miserably. He started to turn away again at the sight of her smirk; Jess laughed and wrapped her arms around his torso. He jumped slightly, giving her a surprised look, but he smiled when she grinned up at him.

"Shut up," he said, even though she hadn't said anything. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her back.

The best man speech came next and was a welcome relief for everyone, and after that it was just finishing eating dessert and drinking coffee. Once that was over, people started milling around just outside the marquee, cocktails in hand. Jess and Becker wound their way through the crowd, Jess smiling and making small talk with the people he introduced her to. Jess had expected some women at the wedding to be rather predatory in their behaviour towards Becker, because… well, _look at him_, but most of them were Carrie's friends who had known him all their lives and spoke to him in much the same way as his sisters did.

Jess found it hilarious, and was squarely back to enjoying herself by the time the marquee was cleared of some of the tables, and it was time for Carrie to throw the bouquet.

Mindy and Tabby both grabbed one of Jess' elbows each and pushed her forward to join the small crowd of 'single' women at the wedding. She didn't miss their smirks, or the calculating look Carrie gave her as she turned her back and got ready to throw the flowers. Jess caught Becker's eye across the crowd, and for a moment she was tempted to catch it just to see what his reaction would be. But, deciding that would be far too cruel, she dutifully didn't catch the thing. This was easier said than done, since as predicted Carrie threw it straight at her face. Not wanting to seem too obvious, Jess pretended to be distracted by something at the moment the bouquet was thrown, giving her an excuse to be a couple of seconds behind everyone else. It worked, and one of Carrie's work colleagues caught it instead.

Becker was by her side within ten seconds, and his hand went straight round her waist. To anyone watching it would seem like a loving consolation hug, but actually he was just getting close enough to whisper in her ear.

"I thought for a moment you were going to catch it," he said.

Jess grinned. "For a moment I almost did," she said. "Just to see what you'd do."

Becker rolled his eyes. "My sisters would have expected me to go down on bended me right then," he said.

"Well, no ring no answer," Jess told him with a smirk.

"I'll remember that," Becker answered immediately.

Jess' smirk vanished, and Becker's eyes widened minutely as he realised what he just said. They stared at each other for a moment, but before Jess could think of something to say to break the suddenly awkward moment she was saved by the DJ making an announcement.

"If everyone could clear the floor, Mr and Mrs Huhne will be having their first dance as a married couple," he said.

Becker's hand slid off of Jess' waist and grasped her hand instead, and the two of them walked to the edge of the dance floor. Jess cleared her throat.

"So do you know what their first dance is to?" Jess asked him.

"No idea," Becker said. "Do you know what the song is Mindy?"

Mindy and Ronnie were standing next to them, both with cameras ready in their hands.

"_Groovy Kind of Love_," Mindy said straight away. "The Phil Collins version."

"Oh, that's a good one," Jess said with a smile.

Ronnie leant round Mindy to look at Jess. "So do you two have a song?" She asked.

Jess felt Becker tense next to her, and she tightened her grip on his hand as she smiled at Ronnie. "Yep," she said cheerfully. "Shania Twain's _That Don't Impress Me Much_."

Mindy snorted with laughter, and Ronnie started to grin. Becker frowned down at Jess. "What?"

Jess just kept smiling at Mindy and Ronnie. "Just the third verse, though, the bit about the car," she clarified.

"I repeat: what?" Becker demanded.

Jess gave him an overly innocent look. "Nothing."

Mindy and Ronnie both burst out laughing, and Becker looked like he was going to demand an explanation again, but the opening notes of _Groovy Kind of Love _cut him off, and they all turned to watch Carrie and Francis' first dance.

It wasn't anything fancy – they just wrapped their arms around each other and revolved slowly on the spot – but even so Jess' eyes soon filled with tears again. Becker reached into his pocket and pulled out a clean tissue, which he passed to her. She looked at him in surprise, and he shrugged. "I thought I better keep a couple spare for later on," he said, smirking.

Jess rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile at his thoughtfulness, even if he was teasing her.

About halfway through the song Carrie and Francis broke apart slightly and gestured for people to join them, and the rest of the floor started to fill with couples. Becker's other three sisters and their spouses started dancing, as did his parents, but even so Jess was stunned when Becker turned to her.

"Shall we?"

She stared at him in shock. "_You_ want to dance?"

Becker gave her a mock-wounded look. "Why wouldn't I want to dance?"

Jess raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't exactly give off a John Travolta vibe," she said.

Becker rolled his eyes and took her hand, and pulled her out onto the dance floor. Once they were in a space near the middle he turned back to her and placed his hands on the small of her back, pulling her towards him. Jess' hands came to rest on his shoulders, and they started to turn slowly on the spot.

Jess could feel herself blushing. She wished she wasn't, but she couldn't help it. _She was slow dancing with Becker_. It was just pretend, she told herself. Just pretend. And just a dance. It didn't mean anything.

Even so, she was going to enjoy it. She just hoped she could enjoy it without doing something completely embarrassing, like swooning or melting into a puddle of goo.

Becker was just staring down at her, seemingly content to not say anything, but it was too much for Jess. She was nervous, and when she was nervous… she talked.

"So, you're not bad," she said. "Not exactly John Travolta, but not bad."

Becker raised an eyebrow. "Gee, thanks," he said.

Jess smirked. "I guess I'll have to wait until later to judge your dancing properly," she said. "I'm guessing you really enjoy the _YMCA_, and I can just see you doing _Oops Upside Your Head_…"

Becker grinned and shook his head. Jess grinned as well, and for a moment they kept smiling at each other as they danced. Then Becker's grin subsided a little, and his face turned more serious.

"Thanks Jess," he said softly. "For coming with me."

Jess was blushing again, and she tried to hide it by shrugging. "It's okay," she said. "You protect me every day from scary things… I don't mind returning the favour."

Becker smiled a little at that, but his serious face returned a moment later. "I'm really glad you came with me," he said. "And not just because of, you know, my crazy family… but because… it's been fun." His hands tightened slightly on her back. "I've really enjoyed having you here with me."

Jess swallowed and tried not to show how much his words were affecting her. She managed to smile up at him. "Me too," she said. "I mean, I've enjoyed myself."

Becker nodded slightly but didn't say anything, and suddenly they were just staring at each other again. Jess tried to think of something else to say, but it was hard to concentrate when he looked at her like that. She wasn't even sure what the look was, exactly – it was just kind of… intense. Like he was trying to see into her and figure out what she was thinking. And funnily enough, she was trying to do the exact same thing with him.

_Groovy Kind of Love _ended, and everyone applauded for Carrie and Francis. Becker and Jess broke apart and started clapping too, but for a moment it was difficult for Jess to pull her eyes away from him.

Another song started, much more upbeat and dancey, and Becker pulled a face, effectively ending their moment, whatever it had been. "I don't dance to this kind of music," he said flatly.

Jess pulled herself together and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I didn't think so," she said.

"Do you want a drink?"

"Gin and tonic, please," Jess said. Becker nodded and brushed past her to get off the dance floor. Jess took a deep breath as soon as he was gone, and then spun on her heel to get off the floor herself. She loved dancing at weddings and had absolutely no shame when it came to songs like the _Superman _song or anything by Steps, but right now she felt like she needed to sit down. She headed for one of the tables that had been left out in the marquee, on the edge of what was now the dance floor.

She'd barely been sitting for a nanosecond when Ronnie slid onto the chair next to her.

"Hey Jess," she said with a smile. "Having a good time?"

Jess smiled and nodded. "Amazing – it's been such a lovely day," she said truthfully.

"Yeah," Ronnie said, looking out over the dance floor to where Carrie and Francis were still dancing with a fond smile on her face. She turned back to Jess after a moment and leant forward so Jess could hear her properly.

"Listen, it's my fortieth birthday next month," she said. Jess' eyes widened – in the back of her mind she did know that Ronnie was that old, but she certainly didn't look or act it. Ronnie saw her reaction and smiled ruefully. "Yes that's right, I am literally _double _your age," she said dryly.

Jess grinned and so did Ronnie, before shaking her head. "I'm just having a family dinner, but I'm relying on you to make sure Hil actually shows up," she said.

Jess chuckled. "I'll make sure he does, don't worry," she said.

"And you'll be coming too, right?"

Jess stopped short, her smile slipping. _Oh dear_. "Um… when is it?" She hedged.

"Friday the seventeenth."

Jess cleared her throat, and hoped she didn't look as uncomfortable as she felt. "Well, yeah of course I'll try to come, but… well…"

Ronnie reached out and put her hand on Jess' arm. "Come on Jess, you're part of the family now too," she said. "I want you to come."

Jess could feel herself starting to blush again, and she could only hope that the low lighting in the marquee was hiding the fact. "That's… all I mean is, work's pretty crazy, and it's hard for me to commit to things this far in advance," she said.

Ronnie didn't look convinced. "But Hil can?" She pointed out, referring back to Jess just assuring her Becker would be there.

At least there Jess could defend herself. "Our jobs are pretty different," she said. "There are other soldiers where we work, but I'm the only me." Belatedly, she realised how conceited that had sounded, and she quickly backpedalled. "But don't get me wrong, if anything happened, he'd definitely be needed…" She said. She sighed and inwardly cursed herself for her inability to give a coherent answer. "But I can do my best to make sure he makes it," she finished meekly.

Ronnie was silent for a moment before squeezing Jess' arm gently. "Try your best to make sure you make it, too," she said.

Jess gave her a small smile. "I will," she said, hating herself for saying the words.

Ronnie nodded and excused herself, heading back onto the dance floor. Jess watched her go, all her guilt and discomfort from earlier rushing back to her as she watched Ronnie join the rest of her family and start dancing with her sisters.

_You're part of the family now too_.

Oh lord… what had they done?

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

Well, here's another chapter for you all – before you get too excited by the quick update, I should say that I'm about to have a very busy week at work with very little free time in the evenings, so there probably won't be another update until next weekend. So you are going to _hate _the end of this chapter.

Thanks so much for the reviews – you've broken the 500 barrier with the last chapter, and so this story is officially my most-reviewed story ever. I really love reading your feedback, so really – thank you!

**Chapter Eighteen**

Becker tried to avoid eye contact with anyone as he hurried away across the marquee, wanting to put as much distance as he could between himself and Jess as quickly as possible. He really didn't know what had possessed him to dance with her like that. Well, yes, he did know – he'd wanted to. He'd wanted to a lot more than dance with her. When they'd been on the dance floor, and she'd been in his arms, he'd been this close to kissing her.

There'd been nothing stopping him. It was a romantic moment, and as far as everyone at the wedding was concerned the two of them were a couple. No one would have batted an eyelid.

Except Jess. Jess knew they weren't together, and if he'd kissed her like that when there was no real reason for it, she would have wanted to know why. And Becker wasn't ready for that conversation. He wasn't ready to take that step.

He just wanted this weekend to be over. Spending this much time with Jess and being this close to her was severely testing his self-control… and he could tell it was getting to her too. She'd been so poised and perfect in every situation all weekend, but today was throwing her.

Well, they only needed to get through one more day. Less than that – it was evening already, and they'd be leaving before lunch the next day. They were in the final stretch. He just needed to keep it together.

He got Jess' gin and tonic and a beer for himself, took a deep breath, and made his way back to the dance floor. Jess was sitting at a table on the edge of the floor, staring into the middle distance with a thoughtful look on her face. He took another deep breath before sitting down next to her.

"Hey," he said. "Everything okay?"

Jess blinked and looked at him, and then smiled. Becker was the first to admit that he could be pretty dense about a lot of things, but even he could see the smile was forced.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

Jess shook her head and her smile became more genuine. "Nothing," she said. "Honestly, I'm fine. I just… well, Ronnie invited me to her birthday dinner."

Becker frowned. "Birthday dinner?"

"It's her fortieth next month," Jess said.

"Yeah I know but... what birthday dinner?" Becker asked. He hadn't heard anything about a birthday dinner. Jess looked a little sheepish, and Becker rolled his eyes. "Unbelievable – they've known you for two days and they already like you better than me!" He exclaimed. He was only half joking.

Jess grinned. "Well... I am pretty adorable," she said.

"That you are," Becker replied before he could stop himself. Jess ducked her head and looked away, and Becker cursed silently – that was just the kind of thing he wasn't meant to say. He cleared his throat. "What did you tell her?"

Jess looked back at him. "I said that I'd try but it was really difficult getting time off work," she said. "That should give me enough of an excuse."

She gave him a small smile that didn't reach her eyes, and Becker returned it with a smile that was just as forced. It was on the tip of his tongue to say that she should come to the dinner with him, but he kept it in – she couldn't, not unless they kept up the pretence of being together. And Becker knew he wouldn't be able to keep up the pretence beyond this weekend.

Of course, a birthday dinner with his family _without _Jess was going to be its own special brand of torture. In the back of his mind he'd been aware that by pretending Jess was his girlfriend he was causing a whole host of problems for himself with his sisters once the pretence was over. Either he was going to have to admit the truth to them and suffer their wrath, or he was going to say they'd broken up. Up until this weekend he'd been leaning towards the 'break up' idea, but he hadn't planned for them all completely falling in love with Jess. He should have, really.

Now, if he said they'd broken up, he'd have them all trying to get them 'back together' for the rest of his life. So he'd have to go with the 'tell them the truth and suffer their wrath' option. And he knew there would be wrath.

He really hadn't expected any of this. He'd thought they would just go to the wedding, hopefully fool his family, and then he'd deal with the fallout afterwards and it would all become a family joke. He hadn't counted on it all being so… real, not only for him but for his family too.

He just wished he wasn't such a coward.

Becker was forced to snap out of his confused thoughts by Olivia and Millie, who were soon joined by Todd and Noel. The kids had been outside the marquee playing a massive game of British Bulldog, but now they were back and demanding entertainment. Jake accosted Jess and they were soon on the dance floor, bopping along to whatever unrecognisable (to Becker, anyway) pop song was currently playing. He couldn't help but smile at the besotted look on Jake's face – if only he was as open about his feelings as his four-year-old nephew.

God, he was pathetic.

His nieces and nephews soon seemed to realise that they weren't going to get much fun out of him and left him alone, and Becker wandered round the marquee pretending to mingle but really just avoiding sitting by himself and looking like he was sulking. Even if that was what he was doing.

He was standing in the corner of the marquee nursing a bottle of beer when Ronnie found him about half an hour later. Jess was still on the dance floor dancing with his family.

Ronnie looked pleased to have found him alone, and Becker braced himself for what he was sure would be a painful conversation – she probably wanted to discuss engagement rings or something.

"Jess is so great," she said, sidling up next to him.

He knew it. "Yeah," Becker said, taking a swig of his beer.

Ronnie smiled at him. "And I can tell you're crazy about her – it's nice to see you like that," she said.

There wasn't really anything Becker could say to that – he couldn't refute it in any way, except to say that _he _didn't like seeing himself like this. Instead he just stared across at the dance floor, where he could see that Jess was teaching Jake and Millie how to do the twist.

"So, are you ever going to make a move?"

It took Becker a moment to realise what his sister had said, and when he did he thought he must have misheard. He blinked at her. "What?"

Ronnie gave him a sardonic look. "Hil. Please," she said, her voice matching her look. "She's not your girlfriend."

Becker knew that he looked like a deer caught in headlights, and the smirk developing on Ronnie's face made it clear that he wasn't going to talk his way out of this one. He had to try though. "She's – yes she –"

Ronnie rolled her eyes. "She's not, and you know how I know?" She said matter-of-factly. "Whenever you look at her you get this longing look on your face, like you're _pining _for her."

Becker closed his eyes and turned away from her, cursing himself for thinking he had ever fooled Ronnie. He'd never been able to get anything past her, _ever_. And now she was going to hold this over his head forever.

"So, who is she really?"

Becker sighed and shook his head. He glanced back at Jess, who was still blissfully unaware that their pretence had been shattered, and then looked back at Ronnie. "We really do work together but she's just a friend," he said. "I really didn't want to come to the wedding alone."

"Wimp," Ronnie said immediately, still smirking. Becker glared at her, but her smirk just widened. "How did you convince her to play along?"

Becker quirked an eyebrow at her. "I explained how you four terrorise me, and she took pity on me," he said.

"Well you are quite pitiful," said Ronnie.

Becker took another swig of his beer and was silent for a moment, as was Ronnie. He was expecting a tongue-lashing from her, but she didn't seem angry with him, just amused. That was something at least.

"Do Carrie and –"

"No, you fooled them," Ronnie cut him off, knowing what he was about to ask her. "And don't worry, I won't say anything. Yet."

Becker smiled. "I'll just need a head start," he quipped.

"You definitely will – it's going to break Mindy's heart," Ronnie said, smiling back.

Becker sighed again. "Sorry for lying to you... I know it was pretty stupid," he said.

"You're right, it was," Ronnie agreed. Then her smile faded. "Why aren't you actually dating her? And don't pretend you don't want to."

Becker opened his mouth, ready to argue with his sister, but he closed it again almost immediately. It wasn't so much the stern, all-knowing look that she was giving him that made him think twice about arguing – he was just tired of arguing at all, even with himself.

So, instead, he just shook his head. "It's complicated," he said after a few moments.

"All relationships are complicated," Ronnie said straight away.

"You don't understand," Becker said morosely. "With what we do..."

Ronnie sighed. "Hil, I don't know what it is you two do, but I'm sure it's dangerous," she said softly. "And important. And difficult." She reached out and put her hand on his arm. "But that doesn't mean you can't have a _life_."

Becker started to shake his head again, but Ronnie squeezed his arm tightly. "You've always had a hero complex, and that's fine, but you can't let it get in the way of you being happy," she said.

Becker glared at her for the 'hero complex' remark, and she glared right back at him. "And look at it this way," she said. "If you don't make a move, someone else will. And she's not going to wait around for you forever."

"I –"

"She clearly has feelings for you too, Hil, anyone can see it – including you, I bet," she ploughed on. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he just scowled. She gave him an unimpressed look. "So you're not just torturing yourself, you're also leaving her in limbo. You really think she deserves that?"

Becker closed his eyes. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't be allowing his sister to talk him into this. There were reasons they couldn't be together. Many, and very important reasons. But… well, she _wasn't _going to wait forever, was she? And maybe he _did _have a bit of a hero complex. And perhaps it _wasn't _just himself he was torturing by being so stubborn… and he hated the idea of being the cause of any pain for Jess.

_Damn it._

Becker opened his eyes and glared at his sister, who was smirking as if she knew she'd won the argument. "You are so annoying," he hissed at her, pulling his arm out of her reach.

Ronnie just grinned. "I love you, too," she said.

Becker rolled his eyes and put his half-empty beer bottle down on the table next to him. Then he walked away from Ronnie without another glance in her direction. He strode across the marquee, weaving his way through the tables and past various guests, his eyes fixed on Jess, who was standing in the middle of the dance floor laughing about something with Tabby. He got onto the dance floor, ducked round Mindy who tried to snare him into dancing with her, and made his way to Jess' side.

She smiled when she spotted him, but her smile quickly disappeared when she saw the determined look on his face.

"Are you –?"

Becker placed his hand on her elbow and leaned down. "I need to talk to you," he said. Then without another word he started to pull her off the dance floor.

Jess went with him willingly, though with a slightly concerned look on his face. "Hil, is everything alright?" She asked him as he led her out of the marquee.

"Not here," Becker said, not slowing down his pace. He led her across the lower patio and down a path into the landscaped gardens.

"Seriously, is something wrong?" Jess asked.

"No, I just need to talk to you," Becker said, taking her down one of the paths that led towards the wall of the lower levels of the hotel. He stopped in the shadows in a corner of the gardens, right underneath the upper patio where they'd taken the wedding photos earlier that day.

He let go of her elbow once they got there, and Jess immediately turned to face him, her eyes wide with surprise and worry.

"Hil, what's wrong?" She demanded.

Becker looked over her head and around the area, frowning. "Is anyone watching?" He asked her.

Jess frowned as well, and looked over her shoulder. There was nothing but clipped hedges and trees, and the distant sounds of music and conversation from the marquee.

"No, there's no one there," Jess said, turning back to him.

"Good," Becker said. And then he leant down and kissed her.

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

Wow. You guys blew me away with the amount of reviews for the last chapter – I think the final count had it over 60! It seems a Becker/Jess kiss makes you all review-happy… not to give anything away, but if that's the case I think you'll like this chapter ;-)

As always, thanks so much for your feedback. And as always, I'm sorry for the delay in posting this! I've been travelling a lot for work and have had very little time to work on this story. Almost there though! Enjoy.

(Oh, by the way, the wedding scene I was referring to in the last A/N, in which the song _Groovy Kind of Love _features, is from ep 1x03 of _New Girl_, one of my favourite new shows. Two words – chicken dance.)

**Chapter Nineteen**

The weekend had been unexpected in many ways. Lots of moments had taken Jess by surprise.

The moment Becker kissed her topped them all. The night before, when they'd first kissed, she'd been expecting it. She'd _told him _to kiss her, so she'd seen it coming. She'd prepared herself mentally. But right now, prepared was not how she'd describe herself. She hadn't known what to think when he'd marched up to her on the dance floor and dragged her out of the marquee. Her first thought had been that something had happened at work, and when he'd asked her if anyone was watching them she was sure that's what it was – he was going to tell her about some anomaly-related emergency.

Instead he'd kissed her. Was still kissing her in fact. Jess' mind managed to get past some of the confusion she felt and she was able to focus on that fact. _He was kissing her_. His hands were resting very lightly on her hips and, because they had to be somewhere, hers were resting on his arms. Jess wasn't exactly frozen, but she wasn't exactly kissing him back either, and as soon as she was able to focus enough she pulled away. It must have only lasted a couple of seconds, but still. She needed to know what was going on.

Becker opened his eyes as she pulled away, and gave her an odd look – if she had to describe it, she'd probably say it was _vulnerable_. But, because that was a word she really didn't associate with Becker, she decided the dim light was paying tricks on her.

She was still pretty sure there was some kind of ARC matter he needed to talk to her about, so he must have kissed her to cover up their being in the garden by themselves – which meant there must be someone nearby. For that reason Jess made herself stay within Becker's personal space, instead of dropping her hands and putting some distance between them so that she could think straight, which is what she wanted to do.

She blinked and looked over her shoulder, expecting to see Mindy or Tabby or one of the other guests, but there was no one there. The garden was deserted except for them and the twilight.

Her hands tightened on Becker's arms and she looked back at him, her eyes wide. "What – why are you –" she stammered inelegantly.

Becker's expression changed into the determined one he'd worn as he'd dragged her from the marquee. "Because I've been wanting to kiss you all day," he said.

Jess stared at him. "All day?" She said weakly.

Becker shrugged. "Maybe longer."

His hands were hot against her hips and his eyes were dark as he stared straight at her, and suddenly Jess realised something – this wasn't her pretend boyfriend Hil talking to her; this was Becker, her Becker, and he'd just kissed her. He'd just told her he'd wanted to kiss her for… well, she didn't know how long.

This wasn't pretend.

Jess didn't need to know anything else. Her heels already gave her some of the height she needed – the rest she gained from going up on her tiptoes and wrapping her arms around Becker's neck to drag him down to her. The moment before they kissed again she saw a flash of relief on his face, and she had to suppress a giggle – as if she had given him any cause to doubt what her response would be.

Then they were kissing and she couldn't concentrate on anything but his lips moving over hers and his arms sliding round her waist. This kiss was nothing like the one the night before, when they'd both been putting on a show and they'd known it. This was them, just them.

Becker's hands slid round Jess' back and he pulled her close so that she was pressed tightly against him, before he tilted his head and deepened the kiss. Jess moaned in the back of her throat and slid one of her hands up the back of Becker's head, finally able to run her fingers through that lovely hair. And it was just as soft as it looked.

One kiss led to another, and another, and it was several long and blissful minutes before Jess could even begin to think about anything else. Eventually, though, they resurfaced, and Jess became aware of the distant sounds of music and conversation from the marquee.

"We should probably go back…" Jess whispered against Becker's lips.

Becker nodded. "Yeah," he agreed, before kissing her again.

It was another minute or two before they came up for air again. Becker smiled at Jess and she smiled back, feeling almost giddy, before he reached down to take her hand, linking their fingers together and squeezing gently. They started walking back to the marquee, hands clasped tightly and bumping shoulders with every step. Jess couldn't help but grin as they walked through the garden, hardly believing what had just happened. She felt like her whole world had shifted, and now she had to get used to a new universe – a universe in which _Becker liked her too_. It was definitely hard to believe.

Becker cleared his throat. "So, erm… Ronnie knows," he said.

Jess' grin faded, and she frowned up at him. "What?"

"She knows the truth," Becker said. His mouth twisted into a rueful smile. "Turns out we never actually fooled her."

Jess wasn't sure what to say. She wasn't that surprised that Ronnie had discovered the truth… but was that the reason for Becker's apparent change of heart? Was he just trying to keep his sister quiet?

She fought to keep her expression and her voice neutral. "Is she mad?"

Becker quirked an eyebrow. "Only that I wasn't actually dating you," he said.

"Did you kiss me because you're scared of your sister?" Jess blurted out before she could stop herself.

Becker stopped walking and turned to face her, pulling on her hand to make her stop too. "_No_," he said firmly. "Jess, I wanted to." He grabbed hold of her other hand as well and gripped them both tightly as he stared down at her. "Honestly, this – us – it has nothing to do with Ronnie," he said earnestly. "She just called me out on being a coward, and I couldn't deny it anymore."

Jess was silent for a long moment, just staring back at him. Eventually she swallowed and shook her head. "You're not a coward," she said.

Becker chuckled humourlessly and looked down at the ground. "You'd be surprised," he said.

Jess thought about saying something else to convince him otherwise, but decided to go for a more direct approach. She ducked her head underneath his dipped one and kissed him again.

"Oi! Lovebirds! Stop sneaking off and get back in here!"

Jess and Becker broke apart and looked round at the marquee – Tabby was standing on the edge of the dance floor, a drink in her hand and a grin on her face.

Jess bit her lip and glanced up at Becker, only to find him returning his sister's grin with one of his own. "Company's better out here!" He called back to her.

Jess started to laugh, and Becker's arm went round her shoulders and squeezed gently.

"Stop being cheeky and do as you're told!"

Becker rolled his eyes down at Jess. "They get especially big sister-y when they're drunk," he said.

Jess laughed again and reached down for Becker's hand. "Come on," she said, pulling him towards the marquee. "Come and dance with me again."

Becker groaned. "Really? I can't just watch?"

"No, I want to dance."

"Because I really don't mind just watching if you want to dance –"

Jess gave him a scandalised look. "Tabby's right about you being cheeky," she said. Becker just grinned. She shook her head but was grinning as well as they reached the dance floor. It was still pretty full – Carrie and Francis were dancing together, Mindy and Tabby were both dancing with their husbands, and Ross was dancing with his cousins Olivia and Millie.

Jess grinned at the sight and looked away across the floor. She found Jake lying fast asleep on three chairs pushed together, and her grin widened.

Then she saw Ronnie. She was standing near another table, talking to a small group including her father and several Becker cousins Jess had met earlier that day, but she was watching Jess, and when she caught her eye she winked at her and smiled. Jess barely had time to smile back before Becker tugged on her hand and made her face him, and then they were dancing again.

Jess grinned up at Becker, and it was only then that she noticed the song that was playing – _Time of My Life _from _Dirty Dancing. _Her grin widened.

"Have you ever even seen _Dirty_ _Dancing_?" She asked him teasingly.

Becker raised an eyebrow at her. "I have four older sisters who were teenagers in the eighties," he said. "_Of course _I've seen _Dirty Dancing_."

Jess laughed. "Did they force you to watch it?" She asked.

Becker rolled his eyes. "Something like that," he said quietly. He dipped his head for a moment and then looked away, and Jess frowned as she noticed his neck had gone red.

"You're – why are you blushing?" She asked.

Becker shook his head. "I'm not –"

"Yes you are," Jess cut him off. She started to smirk. "Why does _Dirty Dancing_ make you blush?" Becker opened his mouth but quickly closed it too, and looked away, his expression just a little bit petulant.

Jess started to pull away from him. "I'll just go ask Tabby –"

Becker's grip on her hips tightened and Jess was pulled back against his chest. "Don't you – if you must know…" Becker winced and looked away as he continued speaking. "They used to make me practise the dance with them," he said quietly.

Jess blinked. "What dance?"

"_The _dance," Becker said, looking petulant again. "The one at the end, with the lift."

Jess frowned. "But you must have only been about five… how could you do the lift?"

Becker just looked at her, and Jess' eyes widened as the penny dropped. "Oh my god."

Becker pulled a face. "Yeah."

Jess burst out laughing. "You were Baby! Oh my god!"

"_It's not funny_," Becker practically growled.

Jess was still laughing. "Are you kidding? That is _brilliant_!"

Becker shook his head. "I can't believe you're laughing," he said. "I was five – younger than that, even. It was practically child abuse."

Jess sobered up slightly, but her grin was practically splitting her face. She reached up and patted Becker on the cheek. "Aww… nobody puts Hil in a corner," she said.

Becker glared at her. "Shut up."

"But I'm having the time of my life…"

"Shut up."

"And –"

Becker bent his head and cut Jess off very effectively by sealing his lips over hers. Jess knew he was only kissing her to shut her up, but she really didn't care. She gave him an amused look when he pulled away, and he just shrugged. Then he looked over her shoulder and rolled his eyes.

"I hate how smug Ronnie looks right now," he said.

Jess looked round and saw that Ronnie did indeed look extremely pleased with herself as she watched them. The smirk on her face was a familiar one.

"You know you look a lot like her," Jess said to Becker as she looked back round.

Becker's glare made another appearance. "Shut up."

"Make me," Jess said immediately.

And Becker immediately complied.

XXXXX

It was two hours later that they left the marquee and headed back to their suite. And it was about two minutes after reaching their suite that Jess was struggling to think straight and concentrate on something other than the feel of Becker pressing her back against the door, the feel of his lips against the side of her neck, or the feel of the muscles in his back moving under her palm from where she'd slid her hand under his shirt.

Thinking straight was pretty low on her list of priorities, to be honest.

Becker's mouth was trailing along her collarbone and for the first time in her life Jess truly understood the phrase 'weak in the knees'. He worked his way back up the side of her neck until the point just under her ear, at which point Jess gasped and clenched her hand in his hair.

Becker pulled his lips away and leant his forehead against the door beside her head, so that they stood cheek to cheek. They were both struggling for breath, and it was several moments before Jess opened her eyes.

Her eyes immediately fell on the king-size bed.

She swallowed, heat creeping up her neck as she imagined Becker pinning her down on the bed instead of against the door. But… well, in all honesty she still wasn't sure whether his sudden change of heart had been brought around by pressure from his family, or being caught up in the moment, or the lines being blurred between reality and pretend. She wasn't sure whether it was all going to look different in the morning – and if it did, and she needed to find a way to put this weekend behind her, it was going to be about a million times harder if they carried on doing what they were doing.

Besides, technically they hadn't even been on one proper date.

She took a deep breath and carefully removed her hand from underneath Becker's shirt. He seemed to catch on to her intentions, and stepped back a little, his hands dropping to his sides. They looked at each other for a long moment before both laughing a little.

"Okay," Jess said, reaching up and tucking her hair behind her ear. "Well, it's been a long day, we should just go to bed." Her eyes widened a little as she realised how that could be misconstrued, but Becker was just nodding.

"Do you want me to…" His voice trailed off and he gestured towards the sofas.

Jess rolled her eyes and pushed away from the door. "Don't even suggest it," she said flatly as she walked past him towards the bathroom.

"Right."

Jess changed into her pyjamas and took off her make up. She thought about whether to leave any on, but realised that Becker had seen her without make up the last two nights, and then berated herself for even considering becoming that person.

She did, however, need to take a few deep breaths before opening the door and heading back out. The lights were off except for the two bedside lamps, and Becker was already changed and sitting up in the bed. He smiled at Jess when she came out of the bathroom and she smiled back, suddenly feeling a little nervous. They were just going to be sleeping, sure, but still… things were different between them now.

Jess fought down her nervousness and slid onto the mattress next to Becker, pulling the covers up over her legs and up to her waist. She turned off the lamp next to her. Then she turned to Becker, to find an odd look on his face – something she could only describe as _nervous_. And just like that her own nerves vanished.

She smiled. "Good night," she said softly. She leant forward and kissed him.

It was meant to be a quick kiss. Just a good night kiss. But Becker's lips had some kind of magnetic field in them that meant she couldn't pull her own away, she just couldn't. Her only hope was that Becker would pull away, but instead he placed his hand on the back of her head and sucked her bottom lip into his mouth.

Jess groaned and leant forward into Becker, who lay back, pulling Jess down with him until she was lying half on top of him. Again, she was struggling to think straight, and again she unfortunately had better things to concentrate on.

Becker broke the kiss; Jess knew he was going to start on her neck again and she had about a second to remember why they shouldn't be doing this tonight.

_Tonight. This has all happened tonight. It's too fast._

Jess drummed up all her willpower and pulled back, bracing herself against Becker's chest. "Okay, we really need to stop," she said breathlessly.

Becker blinked a couple of times, and then his face turned sheepish. "Yeah," he said. Jess grinned, and he smiled, and then Jess gave him a mock-stern glare.

"I'll stay on my side of the bed, you stay on yours," she said firmly.

Becker quirked an eyebrow at her. "I think you'll find that I _am _on my side of the bed," he pointed out.

He was right, since Jess was lying on top of him. She felt herself going pink again, and quickly scooted off of him and back to her side of the bed, putting a couple of feet between the two of them.

Becker was grinning now, and Jess rolled her eyes. "I mean it, Hil," she said.

Becker raised two fingers. "Scout's honour," he vowed.

Jess smirked. "You were a Scout?"

"I was a Cub," Becker said, lowering his hand. He shrugged. "So Cub's honour."

"Why didn't you become a Scout?" Jess asked him.

"I did CCF instead," Becker said. Jess knew this from his file, and also knew that he was made leader of his CCF unit within eight months, when he was only fifteen years old. She'd often thought that he must have been ridiculously cute and ridiculously irresistible to all the girls in his school who saw him in his uniform… and now that she had the right to kiss him she was incredibly tempted to at the thought of it. She only just managed to stop herself, and quickly rolled over so she was lying with her back to him.

"Jess?"

Jess didn't turn back over. "It helps not to look at you," she said truthfully.

Becker didn't say anything, and he didn't move for a few seconds. Then he turned off the light next to his bed and Jess felt him lie down behind her. "Good night," he said.

"Good night," she replied.

Jess closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind enough to fall asleep, but she couldn't help but wonder what the morning would bring. Would he regret everything? Would she? Would Ronnie tell the others the truth and would they hate her? Where were they going to go from here?

After a few minutes she felt Becker shift beside her, a warm presence at her back, and then his arm wrapping around her waist. Jess smiled and linked her fingers with his, and drifted off to sleep.

_TBC_


	20. Chapter 20

Again, thanks for deluge of reviews for the last chapter. I'm really interested to hear what you think of this one… It's a long one, but I didn't want to cut it.

**Chapter Twenty**

The first thing Becker noticed when he woke up the next morning was how warm he was. The second was how comfortable he was.

The third was Jess.

He'd rolled over onto his back some time in the night, and Jess had rolled with him – or more likely he'd pulled her round with him, since his arm was wrapped around her shoulders. She was lying on her side next to him, her head on his shoulder. She was still asleep, and her steady breath was fluttering against his chest.

For a moment, Becker felt nothing but contentment. Then the other feelings came. What the hell should he do now?

It was a pretty long time since he'd woken up with a woman cuddled up next to him. It was an even longer time since it was a… well, it was technically a _morning after _situation, wasn't it? They hadn't done anything beyond kiss, but still. He was never any good in these situations.

He had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. What was he worrying about? This was _Jess_. It was only going to be awkward if he made it awkward. He just had to act normal.

Except… well, he didn't know what normal was. This was all so new, and they had to create a new normal. So now he was back to worried.

Becker looked at his watch and saw it was seven forty-five, which was quite late for him to waking up. He decided that the best thing he could do would be to just go for his run like always, and let Jess sleep.

He very carefully shifted away from her and slid his arm free – Jess frowned slightly as she settled back against the pillow. Becker reached out and smoothed his thumb over the little line that had formed between her eyebrows, and her frown cleared. Becker smiled and had to fight back the urge to lean down and kiss her awake – he thought that might be crossing some kind of line. For now at least.

He headed into the bathroom and then into the dressing room to get changed into his running clothes, and when he came back out the bed was empty and the bathroom door was closed. She was awake.

Right. So what now? Should he just leave and go for his run as planned? Should he wait for her to come out so that they could talk? What were they going to talk about? He lingered by the end of the bed, staring at the closed bathroom door and thinking, and he realised that he wanted to stay because he wanted to see Jess. He shook his head – he was like a school kid with a crush. Maybe he _should_ go for a run, to try and get his head a bit straighter, and give Jess a chance to wake up properly.

Becker was still trying to decide when the bathroom door opened and Jess stepped out. She stopped short, looking a little surprised to see him. Becker tried not to take that as a bad sign.

"Good morning," he said, trying to sound casual.

"Hi," Jess said. She paused for a moment. "I didn't realise you were still here."

Becker raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Jess smiled, and Becker felt relieved at the sight of it before she said anything. "Well it is almost eight – that's practically noon for you," she said teasingly.

Becker smiled back. "Late night," he said.

Jess smiled again and looked away, down at the floor, and Becker noticed that her cheeks were a little pink. She was too adorable, and Becker had taken a step towards her before he knew what he was doing. She looked back at him when he stepped towards her, and she smiled again, and Becker didn't need any more encouragement or reassurance to do what he'd been wanting to do since he woke up.

He only had to take one more step to get to Jess because she met him halfway, and they were both smiling as their lips met.

It was just as good as the night before. It was better than the night before – this wasn't a heat of the moment thing, or a carrying on the pretence thing. This was entirely them. Becker cupped the back of her head with one hand and gripped her hand with his other. Jess' lips were so soft, and she tasted like mint, and she made a soft sighing noise when he prised her lips open under his.

The kiss grew more heated; Jess let go of his hand so she could wrap both his arms around his neck, and she went up on her tiptoes, pressing closer to him. Becker happily moved his own arms around her waist, holding her tight against him.

It was several long moments before they broke apart, and then it was only because they were short of breath. Becker pulled back enough to breathe, but his lips were still brushing Jess'. He realised that he was actually holding her clear off the ground.

So much for it being awkward. Clearly, the only thing Becker had to worry about was keeping his hands off her… something he didn't have to worry about right then.

He kissed her again, but Jess pulled back enough to look him in the eye. She smiled. "Aren't you going out running?"

Becker couldn't think of any reason why he would want to leave the room. "Maybe later," he said.

Jess' smile turned into a smirk, and then they were kissing again, tongues duelling for dominance and hands grabbing fistfuls of clothing. Jess bent her knees to wrap her legs around his, and he adjusted his grip on her, hitching her up so that she could wrap her legs around his waist. Becker turned and bent to deposit Jess on the bed, breaking the kiss for only a moment before following her down. Jess reached for him eagerly as he covered her with his body, and he felt on her hands slide underneath the collar of his t-shirt and her fingernails dig into his back. He groaned in the back of his throat and ran one of his own hands up her side, pushing her tank top up to explore the smooth plane of her stomach and then up her side to the underside of her breast. She gasped and he pulled his lips away from hers to trail them down the side of her neck until he reached her collarbone. She gasped again, and one of her hands clenched in his hair.

"Auntie Jess!"

Becker froze. No… he was imagining it.

"Auntie _Jess_!"

"_For the love of…_" Becker growled against Jess' neck. He closed his eyes and dropped his forehead against her shoulder as Jake started to bang on their bedroom door, calling out Jess' name again. Jess had frozen when he had, but now she started shaking with laughter underneath him, and Becker raised his head to look at her.

"You know I _used_ to like that kid," he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

Jess just kept laughing, and after a moment Becker shook his head and rolled off of her. Jake was still knocking on the door, and Jess sat up next to him, grinning.

Becker gave her a rueful look, and then smirked as her cheeks turned pink again. She shrugged. "I guess this will have to wait until…"

Becker raised an eyebrow at her. "Until we're away from all your admirers?" He suggested.

Jess swatted him on the shoulder before scooting off the bed and heading for the door, pulling down her pyjama top with had ridden up from Becker running his hand under it. Becker sat up on the bed, trying to push his frustration to the back of his mind. Jake didn't know what he'd interrupted. At least he _hoped _he didn't.

Jess opened the door, and Jake immediately barrelled into her, wrapping his arms around her legs.

Jess laughed. "Morning Jake," she said, ruffling his hair.

Jake looked up at her balefully. "Auntie Jess when are you coming to visit?"

Jess frowned. "Er – excuse me?"

"Mummy says we have to go home and she says you can come visit us when are you coming?" Jake said all in one breath.

Becker snorted, and Jess looked round and glared at him for a second before turning her attention back to Jake. "Um, I'm not sure exactly, Jake, but it will be soon," she said. Her cheeks were pink again.

Becker shook his head and stood up. "Auntie Ronnie's birthday is soon," he said as he walked over to them. "You can see Auntie Jess then."

Jess looked at Becker in surprise, and it was only then that he realised he'd effectively officially invited her to Ronnie's dinner, and therefore effectively officially… made them official. If she came to the dinner, it would be as his actual girlfriend, not just pretend.

Jess smiled at him, and Becker smiled back. He was definitely okay with that.

Becker felt a very strong need to kiss Jess again, but his four-year-old nephew clinging to her was a bit of a hindrance, as were the rest of his family, all of whom had descended on their room within the next ten minutes. Tabby came first, once again on the warpath to track down Jake. She was soon followed by Mindy, carrying baby Georgia, Millie, Todd and Noel, then Ross (who was staying with Mindy while Carrie and Francis were on their honeymoon), all of Becker's brothers-in-law, and finally Ronnie and Olivia. Ronnie gave him another one of her smug smiles as she came in, and Becker just rolled his eyes and ignored her.

They decided (by which it should be understood Tabby, Mindy and Ronnie decided) to order breakfast delivered to the room instead of going downstairs for it, so the suite became the Becker family restaurant. Carrie and Francis had already left for the airport, but the rest of the family were making the most of their last couple of hours together, and Becker could barely hear himself think over the noise of everyone talking, laughing, and the ridiculous cartoon they'd put on for the kids.

He did love it, though.

He kept his distance from Jess, not wanting to give himself the added temptation of having her within arm's reach, but he kept catching her eye, and grinning like a fool. She returned the grin every time.

Becker's mum and dad turned up just before the food did, and even their presence did little to ruin the festive atmosphere. His dad just sat with Jess and Mindy, dissecting the wedding and laughing frequently, while his mum sat with John and Ian, and dandled little Georgia on her lap. Becker's mum was surprisingly good with babies – possibly because they required little meaningful interaction.

At one point, Jake (who had stuck like a limpet to Jess' side the entire time, except when she'd gone to change out of her pyjamas) was pulled onto his grandfather's lap, and Jess threw up her hands.

"I'm sorry, but _please _can I get a photo?" She said.

Becker's dad looked confused. "Of what?" He asked.

"You," Jess said, retrieving her phone from the coffee table. "The three of you." She looked over at Becker and waved her hand for him to join them. "You, Hil and Jake. Three generations of clones."

Becker rolled his eyes but obediently went and sat down next to his Dad and his nephew, and smiled for Jess' camera phone. Her excited grin was infectious, and he didn't need to fake the smile.

"Oh – you'll have to send me that!" Tabby called out from across the room.

Jess laughed. "I will." Jake wriggled off his grandfather's lap and clambered up onto Jess' instead, who laughed and hugged him.

Mindy and her lot were the first to go. Becker said goodbye to Todd and Noel, and gave Ross a bear hug that lifted him off the ground… Ross tried to act like he didn't enjoy it. Ian started to shepherd the kids out of the room, and Mindy approached Becker, Georgia on her hip.

Becker kissed his youngest niece, and then kissed Mindy as well. Mindy reached out her free hand and pulled him into a one-armed hug.

"I'm really happy for you Hil," she said as they broke apart. Becker started to reply, but saw that Mindy was given him an odd look.

"What?" He asked.

Mindy shrugged. "You just… it's nice to know someone's looking after my baby brother," she said.

Becker rolled his eyes. "I'm twenty-seven," he said flatly.

Mindy shook her head. "Doesn't matter," she said seriously.

Becker looked at her for a moment, and then bent down to kiss her again. "See you, Mindy."

Ronnie was next to go. Becker had been avoiding her, but he'd noticed Jess hadn't done the same. He had to admire her bravery… or rather her forbearance. Seriously, Becker had never seen _anyone _look so smug.

Anyway, he couldn't very well avoid saying goodbye to her, so he stood his ground when she approached him, trying (not very hard) to fight back her smirk.

"We've got to run – I guess I'll see you for my birthday," she said.

Becker raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh, I'm invited am I?" He said sarcastically.

Ronnie shrugged. "Well I think Jess is bringing you as her plus one," she said. Becker tried to keep up his straight face but failed miserably, and Ronnie grinned back. "I know how useless you are at remembering these things," she said. "I've got Jess' number, we'll sort it all out – you just need to show up."

Becker nodded, trying not to think too hard of the potential consequences of his oldest sister having his girlfriend's number. And then he realised that was the first time he'd properly thought of Jess as his girlfriend, and he couldn't help but smile.

"Okay. I'll see you then," he said. Ronnie stepped forward and they hugged.

"Remember what I said," she said quietly in his ear.

Becker nodded. "I will," he said.

Ronnie stepped back, gave him one last smug smile, and then left with David and Olivia.

Becker turned round and saw that his mum was coming towards him. He'd barely spoken to her since her less than gracious treatment of Jess when they'd been introduced, but as far as he could tell she hadn't brought up any more of his ex-girlfriends, so that was a small mercy. Besides, Jess winning over his dad so easily had probably made her a little more wary of what she said.

"Goodbye, Hilary," his mum said as she approached him.

Becker was sure a therapist would have fun with them, considering how relieved he felt that she'd only come over to say goodbye, but c'est la vie.

"Bye, Mum," he replied, before kissing her proffered cheek. He was just pulling away when the sound of Becker's dad laughing filled the room, and both of them turned their heads to look.

He was standing with Jess and obviously laughing at something she'd said to him. As they watched he sobered up enough to say something in reply, and it was Jess' turn to laugh. Becker smiled fondly and then looked down at his mum to see her reaction – her lips were pursed in a thin line.

"He always did have a weakness for pretty brunettes," she said dryly, turning back to Becker. She shook out her own dark brown hair, arched an eyebrow at him, and he suddenly saw that there was a small smile playing around her lips. It had been so long since he'd heard his mother say anything remotely resembling a joke that it caught him completely off-guard, and he gave a slightly startled laugh.

"So do I," he admitted after a long moment.

His mother turned on one of her heels and walked over to her husband and Jess - Becker followed at a distance.

"Come along, Edward, we need to leave," she said briskly as she approached them. She stopped by his side, and extended a hand to Jess. "Goodbye Jessica – we'll see you soon, I'm sure."

Jess smiled warmly at her and shook her hand. "Goodbye Mrs Becker, it was lovely to meet you," she said brightly.

His Mum looked at Jess and opened her mouth as if she was going to say something, and for a surreal moment Becker actually thought he was going to hear the immortal words _'call me Ruth' _fall from her lips – but she just pursed her lips again, gave Jess a curt nod, and left the room… and the world remained sane.

Becker's Dad shook his hand, pecked Jess on the cheek and followed his wife.

Tabby and John lingered as long as they could, leaving Jake with Jess to help her pack up her toiletries and clothes and the drawings he and Millie had made, but eventually they had to leave too for the long drive back to Oxfordshire.

Becker said his goodbyes to John and Millie, and then hugged Tabby.

"Well, she's too good for you, but that can't really be helped," she said as she pulled away.

"Nice," Becker said dryly.

Tabby smiled at him. "I love you," she said.

Becker's eyebrows shot up, but he smiled back. "I love you, too."

Tabby nodded and walked over to where Jake had his arms wrapped around one of Jess' legs. "Come on Jake," she said, holding out her hand to him.

Jake shook his head, pouting. "_I don't wanna go_," he said crossly.

Tabby sighed and looked at Jess, who bit her lip. After a moment she reached down and picked Jake up – he clung to her tightly, and she rubbed his back and shrugged at Tabby.

"I'll walk you to the car."

Tabby rolled her eyes but gave her a grateful nod before heading for the door. Jess looked over at Becker. "I'll stay here and finish packing," he said. They only had half an hour before they had to check out.

Jess nodded. "Okay, see you in a minute," she said. She followed Tabby out of the room. As she went through the door Becker caught Jake's eye and waved goodbye – his return wave was very sad.

Becker shook his head and grinned. Poor kid.

The sudden silence of the suite was a little unnerving after all the noise and bustle, but Becker didn't dwell on it. Jess was mostly packed, and thanks to his military precision (his sisters called it _anility_), his things were easy to locate and easy to put back in his suitcase, and he was almost done within a minute or two. He opened the wardrobe to retrieve his non-running trainers, and it was only then that he remembered the EMD he'd brought with him.

He pushed aside the blankets on the wardrobe shelf and pulled down the shiny silver case.

He'd barely given the ARC a single thought in the last couple of days. Even when he was talking to Ronnie about work, he hadn't really been thinking about the details of it, of the EMDs, the creatures, the danger. His mind had been full of Jess, and their pretence that was fast becoming real.

Now that he held the EMD case in his hands, the details came flooding back. The rows of EMDs in the ARC armoury, ready to be used… and likely to be. His men training in the gym, running through drills that seemed absurd until they remembered that they tracked down dinosaurs for a living. The creatures… big, small, solitary and in groups… herds… _swarms_… all displaced, most of them deadly. The danger – most of all the danger. Not necessarily to himself, but to the public, to the team. The enormous pressure he felt every day, knowing it was his job to keep them alive. The crushing guilt when he failed.

He hadn't given it a single thought.

"Whoops – don't want to leave _that _behind."

Becker jumped at the sound of Jess' voice – he hadn't heard her come back in, and now she was standing in the doorway of the dressing room, smiling at him. Becker just stared at her, his throat suddenly dry as his thoughts continued to taunt him.

She grinned at him. "Not sure how I'd explain that one to the cleaning staff."

Becker blinked and looked away from her, down at the EMD again. He closed his eyes for a moment.

"Are you okay?" Jess asked after a moment.

No. It was already unbearable.

Becker took a deep breath and opened his eyes. "I can't," he said.

"Can't what?"

Becker forced himself to look at Jess, who was frowning at him, looking concerned. He swallowed. "I can't… oh god." He looked away, hating himself for every word he was saying. "Jess I…"

"You mean… us," Jess said quietly.

She knew. Of course she did. It was scary how well she could read him.

Becker looked back at her. Her eyes were wide, but her jaw was set, and she'd stopped frowning.

"I just… I need to focus," Becker said, trying to explain. "I haven't even thought about work the last two days – I can't have that happen. I can't slip up like that. I need to… I can't." He took a step towards her, and Jess immediately took a step backwards. He froze, and Jess folded her arms over her chest.

She nodded. "Yeah."

She wasn't looking at him now. Becker had never hated anyone as much as he hated himself at that moment. He was hurting Jess, he could see it. _He was hurting her_. But… he had to. She just had to understand why.

"Jess –"

"No, I get it," Jess cut him off. She cleared her throat and looked back up at him, her face and voice expressionless. "Honestly, I understand. Don't worry."

Becker swallowed again. "Jess I'm so sorry –"

"Don't," Jess said with feeling, making him stop short. She took a deep breath and when she spoke again her voice was back to expressionless. "Let's just… get our stuff together and go. Okay?"

They finished packing within a few minutes, and were checked out and in the car within ten. Becker tried not to think about the last time they'd been in the car together, when Jess had driven it and they were still just pretending.

He thought about trying to make conversation, but he didn't know what to say. Jess was equally as silent next to him, staring out the window as they zipped up the motorway into London. It was a quick journey and they were lucky with traffic, and soon Becker was pulling up outside Jess' block of flats. He parked the car and cut the engine, and the two of them just sat there for a moment.

Becker felt absolutely wretched. How had he let this happen? Hurting Jess was the last thing he'd ever wanted to do, and yet here he was.

"Jess… I –"

Jess turned to face him. "Really, let's not… let's just forget it," she said quickly. She gave him a smile that he could tell was completely forced. "Friends?"

Becker swallowed. "Of course."

Jess nodded and pushed open the passenger door – Becker followed suit on his side and they met again by the boot, which Becker opened. He lifted out her case and put it on the ground between them.

Jess smiled again, and it seemed more natural this time. "I had a really nice time this weekend," she said. She quirked an eyebrow and looked away. "Honestly, I'm glad you invited me."

"So am I," Becker said after a moment.

"So I'll see you tomorrow," Jess said.

"Yeah."

She grabbed the handle of her suitcase. "Bye Becker," she said, before turning around and walking away.

It was the first time she'd called him Becker in almost two days. He closed his eyes and leant against the back of his car.

"Bye."

XXXX

Abby and Connor were in the living room when Jess wheeled her suitcase into the flat – Abby reading a book and Connor doing something on a laptop. They both flung aside their respective entertainments the moment they saw her, grinning widely.

"Hey!" Connor exclaimed.

"How was it? Did you have fun?" Abby asked.

Jess smiled, but quickly turned away from them to fuss with closing the front door so they wouldn't see how forced it was. "Hi – yeah it was great," she said. "Such a beautiful wedding."

"What's Becker's family like?" Abby asked. "Did you meet them all?"

Jess had to swallow hard before answering. "Yep," she said brightly. "Listen, I really, _really _need a shower… give me half an hour okay? Then I'll tell you everything." She gave them another quick smile and then headed straight for the bathroom, wheeling her case behind her. If they thought it was weird she was taking her case with her, they didn't say anything.

Jess locked the bathroom door behind her and quickly turned on the shower. Then she closed the toilet lid, sat down on it, and buried her face in her hands as the tears she'd been holding back for almost two hours started to fall.

THE END

_Only joking. TBC – soon, I promise! Please don't hate me too much._


	21. Chapter 21

Well a couple of you clearly didn't read the 'I'm only joking' author's note after I put 'The End' after last chapter… lol! Never fear, I'm definitely carrying this on. It's not the end, it's part of the story. From your reviews most of you seem to think that having Becker break up with her is in-character, which I'm really grateful for – I half thought you'd all stop reading!

Anyway, this is a short chapter, but pretty crucial to the story. Hardly any dialogue (if any), but please stick with me!

**Chapter Twenty-One**

Jess went to bed as early as she could manage it that evening. Connor and Abby wanted to know everything about the wedding, and Jess couldn't hide in the bathroom very long before having to go and face them. She told them everything about the wedding itself in the minutest detail, and then told them about Becker's family, focusing on funny stories about the kids and his sisters. She steered clear of Becker, or her and Becker, and just told them as much as she possibly could in the hopes that they wouldn't cotton on to the fact that all she wanted to do was curl up in bed and cry again.

It seemed to work. Abby did try to press her for more details about her time with Becker specifically, but seemed to take Jess' reluctance to go into detail as her being naturally bashful rather than actively evasive.

Sunday night television gave her something of a reprieve, and then she escaped to bed early, pleading sleepiness.

She was sleepy. But she couldn't sleep. She just lay awake, reliving the moment Becker had looked up at her in the dressing room of their hotel suite and said those two words - _"I can't"_.

She did cry again, several times, but by about three in the morning she was just lying on her back staring glumly at the ceiling, knowing that each passing minute was a minute closer to having to face him again.

And as the hours passed, Jess' sorrow started to change to something else – worry.

As far as she could see, the biggest problem for her wasn't the heartbreak – though there was plenty of that – the problem was the horrible awkwardness of seeing Becker the next day. She'd never in her life pulled a sickie before, but god was she tempted to now.

She would get over the heartbreak. She couldn't imagine how, or when, but objectively she knew that eventually there would come a time when she didn't want to just curl up and cry at the thought of Becker. The problem was how to act until that day finally came. Unfortunately for Jess she couldn't escape Becker – she liked her job too much, and it was far too important for her to walk away from it because of a tangled love life. And she knew that he felt the same way – so they would be working together for a long time yet. She would have to see him every day, talk to him, plan things with him, socialise with him… and there was no escaping it. And it was all going to start in just a few hours.

She knew he wasn't going to tease her. He would never do that. And she didn't think he was going to go completely cold on her either. No, she knew him well – he wasn't going to be teasing, or aloof, he was going to be sad. Sorrowful. Regretful. Not regretful that they weren't together, but regretful that he'd ever let her think they could be. He was going to be so sorry for hurting her feelings, and Jess knew that every time he looked at her that heart breaking look he'd given her by the car would be written all over his face.

And she couldn't think of anything worse.

It wasn't that she was feeling spiteful, or indignant – there wasn't any _I don't need your pity! _about her…. she just couldn't handle having something like that between them for the next god-knows-how-long. One thing Becker knew how to do really, really well was _guilt_, and she hated the thought of being his new guilt complex.

He'd said they couldn't be together. He'd said he couldn't afford to be distracted from his job, that he couldn't be in a relationship. Well fine. She understood, even if she thought he was wrong. Even if it hurt more than anything else had ever hurt her. But she wanted to move on. She hadn't been lying when she'd told him to forget about it. She wanted – she _needed _– to forget about it. It was the only way their friendship was going to survive.

And she really wanted their friendship to survive. Leaving aside the overwhelming feelings she had for him, her friendship with Becker was one of the most important relationships in her life. She liked working with him, she liked hanging out with him, she respected him and trusted him. She didn't want to lose that.

So she couldn't let him be regretful and sorrowful. She needed him to see that she was okay with the situation, not for her benefit, but for theirs. She couldn't let him see how upset she was. But at the same time she couldn't completely ignore the weekend, because then it would be too obvious she was avoiding the subject, which would be almost as bad as bursting into tears when she saw him in the morning.

It was a complicated balance to work out, that much was for sure. Luckily for Jess, she wasn't going to be getting to sleep any time soon anyway.

XXXXX

His job was important. His job was difficult. He needed to concentrate on it. He couldn't afford any distractions. If he allowed his judgement to become clouded by his personal feelings, people could get hurt. He'd done the right thing. He'd ended it before it went too far, before he'd gotten in too deep. Everything was as it should be.

It was exactly one hour and seventeen minutes after dropping Jess off at her flat that Becker started regretting his decision. He knew because it was twelve fifty when he got back in the car, and he was so shocked when what felt like hours later he looked at his watch and it was only seven minutes past two.

Seeing that barely an hour had gone by, Becker felt it like a blow to the gut. Barely an hour had gone by and it felt like at least six. Barely an hour had gone by, and he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. Barely an hour had gone by, and _he missed her_.

It was that realisation that led Becker to his next, and far more disconcerting one – he was already in way, way too deep.

He knew then that things weren't going to be as easy as he'd thought. Well, he wasn't expecting it to be easy anyway – just the mere thought of the look on Jess' face in the dressing room was enough to make Becker feel the lowest of the low. He'd never be able to forgive himself for hurting her the way he had that day, and he'd known he was going to have to deal with that guilt and self-loathing every time he saw her from now on. But now, he realised he was also going to have to deal with his feelings for her too.

The weekend had made it clear that his feelings for Jess were real, but he hadn't realised until then just how deep they were. He missed her so much that he felt hollow, and the thought of seeing her filled him with equal parts dread and longing – how was he going to be able to act even semi-normally around her? All he wanted to do was gather her up in his arms and tell her he didn't mean what he'd said.

But he had meant it. Just because he was… _pining _for her didn't mean that he hadn't been right. In fact, it made him more right – a fling would have been bad enough, but falling that hard for someone would definitely have been detrimental to his job performance. He needed to just forget about it and move on.

It was twelve hours and thirty-one minutes after that, at two thirty-eight in the morning, that Becker admitted to himself that he was completely full of crap.

He'd been lying in bed for four hours, and sleep was completely evading him. This never happened – he could, and did, sleep anywhere – and yet now he was staring into the darkness, unable to think of anything but Jess, and how empty his bed seemed without her lying next to him. Honestly, two nights sleeping next to her and he was already addicted. He was completely pathetic, and he was going to be useless at work the next day if he didn't get some sleep.

It was that realisation that pushed him over the edge. He'd ended things with Jess to save himself from being distracted, but he'd never been more distracted in his life. All he could think of was the pain he'd caused to both her and himself, and how he was possibly going to find the strength to get past it. How was he supposed to move on? How could he face Jess, knowing what he'd done and knowing that all he'd want to do was grab her and kiss her like his life depended on it? Part of him felt like his life _did _depend on it.

And how would he be able to do his job without Jess' support, without the easy camaraderie they'd developed? He didn't just rely on her as a Field Coordinator, he relied on her just being there, with her smiles and her shoes, the way she always knew what to say to make him feel better or make him smile. She was the most important person in his life, and he needed her. He had for a long time – this wasn't new. He didn't know when she'd become so important to him, but it wasn't just over the weekend. He needed her.

_What the hell had he done?_

Becker sat up in bed and was reaching for his phone before he realised what he was doing. He paused and took a deep breath. His instinct was to call her, or better yet get out of bed, drive to her flat, get down on his knees and beg her to forgive him and to give him another chance. But it was almost three in the morning – she would be asleep, and he had no right to barge in on her in the middle of the night, not after what he'd done.

No, he would wait until the morning. He'd just have to hope he hadn't completely ruined everything.

TBC


	22. Chapter 22

I think it's appropriate that the review count for this story is currently 666… because this chapter is pretty hellish. I really do dislike it – I think it's bad in pretty much every way. HOWEVER, instead of spending the next few days trying to rewrite it, I've decided to just post it as it is so I can get on to the next chapter… I hope you guys don't mind. I thought you would prefer me to just get on with it.

So here you go – as always, thanks so much for the reviews!

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Jess is sitting in front of the ADD, looking as colourful as ever but with no cheerful smile playing around her lips, or sparkle in her eye as she surveys her screens. Her eyes widen when she spots Becker striding purposefully towards her, and she must see something in his determined expression because she stands up as he nears the desk.

"I-" She begins before he cuts her off.

"I'm so sorry," he says without any preamble. "Jess – I'm just so sorry. I didn't mean it – please forgive me."

Her eyes are still wide but she starts to smile, and Becker doesn't waste any more time – he reaches out to cup his hand around the back of her head, and pulls her to him, kissing her for all he's worth…

Yep. That was exactly what was going to happen. Exactly that.

Becker nodded to himself as he strode through the corridors of the ARC. He'd wanted to go straight to the Hub the moment he arrived, but forced himself to get changed into his uniform and check in with his 2IC first. Satisfied that everything was fine and nothing urgent needed doing, he was now making his way to the Hub, and to Jess. His stomach was churning with nervousness at the thought that she might reject him – and she'd be perfectly within her rights to do so. He had no right to expect her to just forgive him… and he knew that if she didn't he was going to do everything he could to make her trust him again.

And it was going to start right then. He was going to march up to her at the ADD and apologise. He was going to tell her that he'd messed up, that he'd realised almost straight away that his feelings for her were too deep to just ignore, and that he took back everything he'd said to her. He was going to tell her that she wasn't a _distraction_ – she helped him more than she knew.

He paused for a moment before he reached the Hub, steeling himself for the conversation, and then froze when he heard laughter through the doorway. Jess' laughter.

He frowned slightly and walked into the Hub.

Jess was standing by the ADD, wearing a purple dress with yellow accessories and shoes. She had a yellow and purple flower clip in her hair. Matt was standing next to her, and though he was too far away from them to hear what he was saying, Becker could see that it was something he'd said that had made Jess laugh. As Becker watched she nodded and said something back to him, and Matt rolled his eyes and grinned.

Becker shook himself and walked over. Jess was talking again, and soon Becker was close enough to hear what she saying. And he froze again.

"… so funny, I couldn't stop laughing. You'd never believe it: they just jump on him whenever he walks into a room."

"I hope you got pictures," Matt said.

"I didn't have a camera on me," Jess said. "Ooh, though I did get one picture on my phone – you will _love _this."

Jess was already turning her phone on as she spoke, and it was then that Matt glanced over and saw Becker. His smile widened.

"Talk of the devil," he said. "Or should I say climbing frame?"

Jess looked up too, and her face split into a grin. "Hey!" She said cheerfully. "I was just telling Matt about the kids." Her grin faded slightly into a softer, more welcoming smile. "You okay?"

No. 'Okay' wasn't the word he would use to describe himself. If he had to choose one, it would be 'thrown'. He didn't know what he'd expected… no, that was a lie. He knew what he'd been expecting – he'd thought Jess would be, well, sadder. She was sad yesterday, he remembered the look on her face with perfect clarity… and now she was… fine.

So what was the problem here? Was that a bad thing? Clearly not. He shouldn't be _wanting _her to be sad – because that would make him a complete and utter _prat_. So there was no problem. At all.

Becker realised he hadn't said anything yet, so he cleared his throat and took a couple of steps closer to the desk. "Yeah I'm fine," he said. "Thanks. I'm good. How are you?"

Jess smiled again. "Good," she said. "A little tired. Here."

The last word was directed at Matt, as she passed her phone to him. Matt looked at the photo and started laughing. "That's just… terrifying," he said. He looked up and smirked at Becker, who folded his arms and shrugged. He wasn't really paying attention to Matt, who was now saying something to Jess about the photo – he was just staring at Jess, trying to work out what to do.

This wasn't going the way he'd imagined it going. He needed to regroup.

"Okay, well… I need to check in with Rowlands," he said. It was a lie, since he'd already done so, but they didn't know that.

Jess smiled and nodded. "See you later – I promise I won't tell everyone anything too embarrassing about your family," she said teasingly.

It would be the perfect time for him to say something witty, maybe smile back, but he had nothing. He just nodded, turned on his heel, and got out of there as fast as he could.

XXXXX

Matt handed Jess her phone and left the hub just after Becker did. Jess sat down in her chair, clicked her phone off so she didn't need to see the picture of Becker, Ted and Jake and, finally, let out a long relieved breath.

She'd done it – the first meeting was over and it had, she thought, gone well. She hadn't burst into tears, she hadn't wanted to run away, and she'd even managed to smile at him and make a joke. The fact that Matt was there had helped a lot – she'd already been smiling and joking with him, so she hadn't needed to build up to it when Becker appeared. He'd also given her an excuse to look away a couple of times.

Her goal had been to avoid looking like a pathetic, love sick, heartbroken mess, and to be honest she was pretty pleased with how it had gone. Becker had looked pretty confused, so it was obvious that that's what he'd been expecting to find… which made Jess feel even gladder that she'd made the effort to hide her true feelings. She was clearly right that she'd been about to become Becker's newest guilt complex, but hopefully she'd managed to subvert that.

Now, she just needed to keep it up.

XXXXX

Becker stayed in the armoury for the rest of the morning. He didn't like to think of himself as _hiding out _but it couldn't be denied that there was an element of that involved. He needed time to work out what he was going to do.

Jess was clearly fine with the way they'd left things – or at least she was _pretending _to be completely fine. Though that seemed… unlikely. The Jess he knew wasn't one to hide her feelings. And why would she want to pretend like nothing had happened anyway?

So she was… fine. She was happy and smiley and… _Jess_. Meanwhile, he was hiding in the armoury because he didn't know what to do with himself.

Obviously, he needed a new plan. He'd been expecting her to be upset, like she'd been the day before. He'd been expecting to just apologise for being such an idiot, perhaps beg a little for her forgiveness, and, hopefully, put things right. At the moment, the idea of just walking up to her and asking her to take him back seemed a little ridiculous. Apologising seemed a bit superfluous considering that she didn't seem to think there would be anything to apologise for. So what he'd be doing is reminding her that she had a reason to be mad at him, then apologising for it, then reverting back to the original plan.

Yeah, that just seemed really stupid.

What he needed to do was find a way to let her know that while she was fine with what had happened_, he wasn't_, and then they would just have to go from there. She would either give him another chance or she wouldn't, and if it was the latter he would just have to learn to get over it the way she clearly had.

But then… was he being selfish? If she _was _already over it, was he doing the right thing in bringing it all up again?

The thing was… the reasons he'd decided they couldn't be together hadn't gone away, he'd just decided that he could work around them. But it _would _be difficult – being with Jess _would _mean having to be more careful at work, to make sure that their relationship didn't interfere with either of their jobs. His job _was _important, and even though being with Jess would be… amazing, it would also make things more complicated. For both of them.

So, if Jess was able to move on, and to be happy without him, wouldn't it just be so much easier for both of them to just put it behind them. He'd expected to find her sad and hurt, the way she'd been when he'd left her the day before, but instead she'd moved on and put the weekend behind her… so if he brought it all back up now, it would be for purely selfish reasons.

He just needed to be sure that she really _was _over it. He needed to speak to her alone.

So, around lunchtime when his circling thoughts were starting to give him a headache and he could no longer deny that he was hiding in the armoury, he left and headed back up to the Hub. He got as far as the lab level before he ran into Connor.

"Hey!" He said, before smirking widely. "So did you have fun? Jess told us all about it."

Becker folded his arms over his chest and hoped that he didn't look as awkward as he felt. _Had _she told them all about it? "I… yeah, it was fun," he said. "The wedding was nice."

Connor just grinned. "I can't believe you're the youngest of five," he said. "Jess said that you're the proper baby of the family."

"Yeah, well," Becker said. It wasn't his wittiest comeback ever, but he had other stuff on his mind.

Connor didn't seem to notice – they were by the door of his lab now, and Connor was obviously heading inside. "Okay, well you can tell me about it later," he said, unlocking the lab door. He took a step inside before suddenly reappearing. "Oh – _do not _tell her I told you this, but fair warning: Abby's looking for you."

Becker's eyes widened. "Why?"

"Something about Jess," Connor said with a shrug. "Consider yourself warned."

"Yeah, thanks," Becker said. The lab door closed and Becker stared at it for a moment before carrying on.

Surprisingly, Connor's warning had actually lifted Becker's spirits. If Abby was on the warpath about Jess, then she must know something. Connor clearly didn't know anything, but maybe Jess had told Abby what had happened. And what he'd done. Or maybe she'd just read between the lines. He should have expected it, really – Abby was pretty… one-minded… when it came to him and Jess.

It had started just after the bug incident. She'd started smirking at him and dropping hints about the two of them, or teasing him about 'security stuff'. After convergence happened, it wasn't hints anymore – since she didn't have the end of the world to worry about anymore, and since she was happily engaged, she'd turned her attention to Becker and Jess. She told him to make a move at least twice a week, and had threatened to just lock the two of them in a supply cupboard on more than one occasion.

And now she was looking for him to give him an earful. He should probably be worried, but it just gave him hope that Jess _was _faking today.

Abby intercepted him just before he got to the Hub. "Becker, there you are," she said. She smiled at him, and Becker looked at her suspiciously – was that a fake smile to lull him into a false sense of security? What _did_ she know?

"I need to talk to you," she said, grabbing him by the elbow and pulling him through a door. They were in one of the break rooms – empty for now but sure to fill up within about ten minutes as people stopped for lunch.

Abby's smile faded to be replaced by a scowl.

Becker folded his arms. "Abby, what –" _Has Jess told you? _was going to be his question, but she cut him off before he could say it.

"God, Becker, are you ever – _ever _– going to make a move?" Abby demanded.

Becker's eyes widened. "Er –"

"I've stayed quiet – mostly – for almost a year now, but Becker, seriously, you _need _to get your arse in gear," she said. "I _ know _you like her, I can tell, and I thought that you inviting her to the wedding was a sign that you were actually manning up… but no. Nothing. Seriously, Becker, how much more of a perfect situation do you need?"

Becker sighed and leant back against the counter behind him. Well so much for that – Abby didn't know a thing. And he was sure Abby would have done everything in her power to get the truth out of Jess, and would also see through her in a heartbeat if Jess was faking.

Which meant that Jess really _was_ over it.

"What's going on?"

Becker's head snapped up – Jess was standing in the doorway, looking between him and Abby with a frown. Abby had just been calling him names for the past ten seconds or so, so he didn't think she would have heard anything of any substance.

He stood up straight, telling himself to pull it together. "Just my normal Monday morning pep talk," he said.

Abby just rolled her eyes at him, and Becker looked at her silently for a moment before looking back at Jess. She was still frowning, but when he looked at her she gave him a small smile. He returned it, using every piece of reserved will he had, and then left the break room.

He had a new plan, and it was simple: move on.

TBC


	23. Chapter 23

Thanks everyone for the reviews for the next chapter. I know it's frustrating, but please bear with me! I hope you all have a lovely Easter Sunday tomorrow whatever you're doing.

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

By Thursday morning, Jess was dreading going into work. She lay in bed waiting for her alarm clock to go off, just staring at her dark ceiling and wishing she could stay in bed all day. Except that that would be even more depressing… she didn't want to be that girl, the kind who moped around all day and was good for nothing. It was just that being at work – even being out of her room, since she lived with Abby and Connor – meant having to be in character.

_In character _was how she'd come to think of herself since the weekend… and today would mark a whole week of her pretending. The kind of pretending she'd been doing over the weekend had been much easier though – much easier. She supposed it was because acting like she had strong feelings for Becker wasn't exactly _pretending _– she'd just been allowing her true feelings to run free. Now she was having to not only reign them back in, she was having to act like they no longer existed, and most importantly of all that she was completely fine with everything. She had no intention of dropping her act – she still didn't want to give Becker any opportunity to learn her true feelings and turn her into something to feel guilty about.

Thankfully she'd seen very little of Becker over the past few days. It wasn't that he was actively avoiding her… it was just that there was actually very little reason for him to come up to the Hub unless he needed to meet with Lester or unless there was an alert. Now that she was so alert to his movements around the ARC she'd come to realise that before the weekend he'd actually spent a lot more time in the Hub than was strictly necessary.

The fact that he was staying away now just proved that their relationship wasn't where it used to be.

Aside from Becker, she had the rest of the team to fool as well. Lester was nothing to worry about – if he did notice something, he wasn't going to say anything. Matt was always pretty busy and Emily, though observant, was quite easy to lead away from a subject – also, she was very polite, and like Lester wouldn't say anything if she did notice.

Connor was Connor. He was completely oblivious.

Abby was the one Jess worried about continuing to fool. She'd been on a pretty serious matchmaking mission on behalf of Jess and Becker for a little while now, and she'd clearly been hoping for something to happen between them at the wedding. Jess remembered the panic she'd felt on Monday when she'd walked into the break room to find Abby hurling abuse at Becker – she'd really thought that Abby had seen through her act and figured out the truth, or that maybe Becker had told her. But no – she'd just been ripping on Becker because 'nothing had happened'.

God knows what she would do if she _did _find out the truth. Part of Jess wanted to tell her, just so she would have someone to talk to about it, and someone to support her and help her through. But Abby was definitely not the person to turn to for that – Jess knew that the first thing Abby would do would be to threaten Becker with bodily harm, and much as she would appreciate the gesture, it wouldn't do anyone any good.

It didn't help that Jess lived with Abby, so she had to keep her act going well after office hours. Her bedroom or the bathroom were the only places Jess was able to let down her guard, and it was pretty exhausting. But she wasn't giving up.

Thursday came and went, and Jess had very little to do. There hadn't been an anomaly alert for a couple of weeks now, which was obviously a good thing, but it did mean that she was completely up-to-date on all her paperwork and tasks, and there was only so many computer updates she could implement.

It was a very quiet day. She didn't see Becker at all, and Abby was busy in the menagerie for most of it, so Jess didn't have to worry about her either. She left on time for once, happy that the day hadn't been too taxing for her – she really was getting sick of pretending. She knew that eventually it wouldn't be pretending anymore, and she really would be fine, but it seemed like a long way away.

She got home before Abby and Connor, and was standing in the kitchen staring balefully at the meagre contents of the fridge when her mobile started ringing. Jess hurried back into the living room to retrieve her phone from her bag and saw an unsaved number flashing on her screen – it looked like a landline. She frowned for a moment, wondering who it could be, before answering it.

"Hello?"

"_Jess? Hey, it's Tabby_."

Jess' eyes widened. "Oh." She swallowed convulsively. Oh god, why was she calling? No, she knew why, and really she should have expected it. She'd thought that one of them might call her when they found out the truth about her and Becker… but she'd thought it would be Ronnie. But, thinking about it now, Ronnie found out the truth at the wedding and didn't say anything. And Tabby was probably the most outspoken of his sisters, after Ronnie.

Jess realised she hadn't said anything for a couple of seconds, and despite how horrible this conversation was going to be, there was no need to be rude. "Um, hi," she said, trying to inject some enthusiasm into her voice.

"_Hey – I got your number off of Ronnie, I hope you don't mind_," Tabby said.

Jess had figured out that much. "Of course not," she said. "How are you?"

"_I'm good thanks_," Tabby said. She didn't sound annoyed – yet. "_You? Recovered from the wedding?_"

"Mostly," said Jess. It was kind of true. Well, partly. Kind of.

"_This is an odd call to make…"_ Tabby said. Jess held her breath, waiting for the shoe to drop. "…_But Jake has been moping around since Sunday – I wondered if I could just get you to say hello to him_."

Jess' eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

"_Yeah_," Tabby said. Then she laughed. "_I tell you what, Jess, if you feel like adopting, I'm sure he'd rather live with you than me_..."

Jess laughed too, but more out of surprise than anything else. Was this the only reason Tabby was calling? She didn't sound annoyed, or upset, or any of the things Jess had been expecting.

"_Can I go get him_?" Tabby was saying now.

Jess blinked. "Er, yeah, of course," she said.

"_You're sure you're not too busy_?" Tabby asked. "_Is Hil there_?"

Jess paused for a long moment before answering again. So, Ronnie hadn't told her the truth yet. Which meant that _she_ probably should.

"Er, no, not right now," she said. "It's fine, I'm not doing anything right now."

"_Okay, great, I'll just be a sec_," Tabby said.

Jess heard her moving away from the phone at her end, and slowly sat down on the sofa. She should have said something then, should have told Tabby the truth. She'd chickened out – there was no other way to describe it. She would talk to Jake, and then she would tell Tabby what was really going on.

"_Auntie Jess? Hello Auntie Jess!"_

Jess smiled in spite of herself. "Hi Jake!" She said. "Are you okay?"

"_Yeah – we're going to the museum tomorrow."_

"Are you going with school?"

"_Yep."_

"What museum are you going to?"

"_Er…. Mummy, what museum is it_?"

Jess heard Tabby mumble something, and then Jake was back. "_It's a Natchel History museum_," he said loftily.

Jess grinned. "Oh wow, that sounds cool," she said. "You know what they'll probably have there? Dinosaurs."

"_Not real ones. They're all dead_."

"That's true, they are all dead," Jess said, trying not to laugh. "But they might have some skeletons. There's a big museum here in London that has a T-Rex skeleton in it."

Jake gasped. "_Really? I wanna see it_!"

"Well if you ask nicely, maybe your Uncle Hil will take you to see it the next time you visit him."

"_Will you come too_?"

"I –"

"Please _Auntie Jess? You'll come too, won't you_?"

Oh god, how could she say no to him? He wouldn't understand… but then how could she say yes, and then not go? That would be a horrible thing to do. Jess closed her eyes tight and shook her head before answering.

"I'll come along Jake," she said quietly. "I want to see the T-Rex as well." It was the lesser of two evils – the trip might never happen anyway.

"_Yay_!" Jake exclaimed happily. "_Mummy – Auntie Jess is gonna take me to see the T-Rex in London_!"

Tabby was saying something again and Jake was soon back. "_Mummy says I have to go get ready for bed now, but that I have to say thank you for taking me to see the T-Rex_," he said.

Jess smiled sadly. "That's okay sweetheart," she said. "You go do what Mummy says – sleep tight."

"_Night Auntie Jess_!"

Jess heard the phone being passed over again, and then Tabby was laughing down the phone. "_There are T-Rexes in London_?" She asked sardonically.

_You have no idea_.

"The Natural History museum," Jess explained.

"_Ah_," Tabby said. "_Thanks for that, Jess – I really appreciate it_."

This was the perfect moment to explain herself, but Jess just didn't have the energy for a drawn out, emotional conversation. Besides, thinking about it, it was really Hil – Becker – that should be explaining to his sisters.

"No problem," Jess said. "He's a sweetheart."

"_Hmmm_," Tabby said, but Jess could hear her trying not to laugh. "_Anyway, I'd better make sure he's actually brushing his teeth – thanks again Jess, and see you soon_!"

Jess didn't bother to correct her. "Bye Tabby," she said, before hanging up.

Well, so much for it being a relatively easy day. Jess lay back on the sofa, grabbed a cushion and pressed it to her face.

She'd just lied to Tabby. Worse than that, she'd just lied to Jake – sweet, innocent, _four-year-old _Jake. She felt like some kind of monster. She'd been so busy worrying about keeping up the pretence around Becker the past few days that she hadn't even thought about the other people they'd fooled. For some reason Ronnie hadn't told Tabby the truth about her and Becker… it was safe to assume she hadn't told Mindy or Carrie either, considering how close the sisters were. Leaving aside her possible reasons for keeping it quiet, it put Jess in a difficult position – they were clearly expecting to see her in a few weeks for Ronnie's birthday.

Becker was going to have to straighten it out… which would mean Jess having to talk to Becker about it, something she was extremely loathe to do.

Jess sighed and tossed the cushion down to her feet. It seemed the next day wasn't going to be as easy to handle as that one had been.

XXXXX

It was mid-morning the next day, and Jess was still trying to drum up the nerve to go and find Becker. She expected to see him at some point today because he'd have to drop off the new duty roster for the week, but she wanted to go find him instead, because there were more places to talk privately down by the armoury.

And yet she was still in front of the ADD, flicking from screen to screen as her thoughts chased each other around in circles. She was just so worried that all of her good work from the past week was going to be destroyed by one conversation with Becker – it was going to take her a while to psyche herself up for it.

She was still just staring at her screens when her mobile started ringing again. It was another unsaved number, this time a mobile, and Jess winced at the sight of it. She really hadn't enjoyed her conversation with Tabby and Jake last night… what if it was another one of the Beckers? She thought about leaving it for voicemail – she was at work, after all, so she had an excuse – but then that would mean returning a call and dragging it out… and it just felt rude to ignore it. It was better to just bite the bullet.

She took a deep breath and answered. "Hello?"

"_Jessica? Hello there – it's Ted_."

Jess was genuinely surprised to hear Becker's dad on the line, and it took a moment for her to answer him. "Oh – um, hi," she said awkwardly. "How are you?" God this was uncomfortable – it had been bad enough talking to Tabby and little Jake the night before… Ted was such a sweet guy, and she hated lying to him, even if it was just by admission. _Why hadn't Ronnie told them all the truth? _

"_Very well, thank you, and yourself_?" Ted was saying. Then he ploughed on without waiting for an answer. "_I hope you don't mind, I got your number from Veronica_."

"Of course not," Jess said. She shifted awkwardly in her chair. "But I'm at work right now…"

"_Yes, of course, I'll just be a second – I need your advice_," Ted said, talking quickly. "_I'm in the Apple Store and I'm looking at a Macbook Pro…"_

Jess relaxed slightly as she realised he was calling to ask about computers. "And you want my advice?" She interrupted. "Turn around and walk out of the Apple Store, and don't look back."

"_Oh. I thought that Apples are good_?"

Jess smiled. "They are good, they're great. In fact I've got one at home myself," she said. "But they're only great if you're going to use them for certain things, and I'm guessing you're not planning to get into graphic designing?"

Ted chuckled. "_It's not likely, no_," he said.

"Then it's just a waste of money," Jess said firmly. "Why don't you give me your email address and I'll send you a list of recommendations?"

She made the offer before thinking it through, and regretted it almost instantly – it just meant prolonging her contact with the family. But she couldn't exactly take it back, could she?

"_Oh, thank you Jess, I'd really appreciate it_," Ted said, sounding ridiculously grateful. "_It's .."_

Jess grinned, thinking that she'd be recommending more up-to-date email servers too, and grabbed a pen to write it down.

"Dot co dot uk… got it," she said as she wrote. "I'll send you something soon."

"_Thank you – I'll let you get back to work_," Ted said. "_See you in a couple of weeks_!"

Jess closed her eyes. "Um, I… " It was no use, she couldn't bring herself to say the truth, just like with Tabby the night before. "I'll be in touch soon," she settled on instead. "Bye Ted, take care."

"_Bye_!"

Jess turned off her phone and sighed as she put it back down on her desk. Just like last night, she felt completely horrible – and confused again. Why hadn't Ronnie told her family the truth about her and Becker? What was she waiting for?

"Was that my Dad?"

Jess just about jumped out of her skin at the sound of Becker's voice, and she looked up to find him standing right next to her. He was holding a folder in his hand which she assumed was the duty roster she was expecting. It was the first time since the weekend that he'd snuck up on her like that, the first time she hadn't been moderately prepared for him to be around, and she had to quickly school her expression into one of nonchalance.

He was looking at her expectantly, and she nodded.

"Er, yeah," she said. She drummed up a smile, and shrugged. "He was about to buy a Macbook Pro, but I talked him out of it."

Becker raised an eyebrow at that, and Jess cleared her throat. "Actually, Tabby called me last night," she told him before she could back out. It was only after speaking that she thought that in front of the ADD might not be the best place for this conversation… but it was too late now.

Both of Becker's eyebrows went up at her news. "She did? Why?"

"To cheer up Jake," she said sheepishly. She could feel her cheeks already going red as she contemplated her next words, but she told herself to just get it over with. " I don't think… Ronnie's not told them the truth," she said quickly.

It was the first time since the weekend that either of them had actually referred to their… charade. Becker's eyes widened, and Jess thought he actually looked a little panicked.

"Oh. Erm –"

And of course, _of course, _that was the moment the anomaly alert went off.

Jess quickly turned to the ADD but not before she saw an unmistakable look of relief flit over Becker's face.

She didn't know what was going on, but right now she had other things to worry about.

_TBC_


	24. Chapter 24

This chapter ended up way longer than I intended, and consequently I think it's a bit haphazard… however I'm just so busy at the moment I don't have the time to give it the polish it needs! I hope it's enjoyable, anyway. Thanks once again for the fantastic reviews! Only a few chapters to go now… (5, I think…)

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

Jess focused on the screens in front of her as the ADD went to work zoning in on the anomaly.

"So what have we got?" Becker asked. He was standing to the side, and for a split second Jess found something about the situation odd until she realised that he usually stood behind her chair, leaning over her, when there was an anomaly alert. But now wasn't the time to be thinking things like that.

Jess re-focused, and saw that the anomaly was some way out of London – which was always annoying. "It's in Oxfordshire – I'll get the helicopter on standby," Jess said. She turned to her other screen and started typing in commands.

Becker just nodded. "Where is it?"

Jess glanced back at the locator. "Abingdon," she said. She noticed Becker's eyes widen slightly. "Do you know it?"

He paused for a moment before answering. "It's where Tabby lives," he said.

Jess held his gaze in silence for a moment before nodding and going back to her typing. "Right."

Matt ran into the Hub at that moment. "Where is it? What have we got?" He demanded.

"It's in Abingdon, in Oxfordshire," Jess said, turning back to the locator screen. It had come up with the details of where exactly it was, and Matt stepped up next to Jess to peer at the results.

"Is that a museum?" He asked.

"Yeah," Jess said tensely. The place was probably packed – but at least it wasn't a weekend. "I'll get the police over there," she said, going back to work on her other screen. They needed to get local law enforcement over there to secure the building if they could before the team arrived.

Abby arrived, a little out of breath. "Connor and Emily are on their way," she told them all.

"We need to take the chopper – it's in Oxfordshire," Matt told her.

"In a museum," Becker added grimly. He had his arms folded and looked really tense, and Jess knew it was because he wanted to get going. It was always bad when an anomaly was in a public place – and the fact that he had family nearby probably made it worse. What if… no. It was fine. Tabby would be at work, and the kids were at school.

Jess gasped. "Oh my god!"

"What?" Becker, Matt and Abby all said at the same time.

Jess spun her chair to face Becker. "I think Jake's there!" she exclaimed.

Becker stared at her. "What? What are you talking about?" He demanded.

"When I spoke to him last night he said – he said his class were going to the Natural History Museum today," Jess said quickly, turning back to the screen to look at the locator again. This time she took in the words _Natural History _and swallowed fearfully. "It would be that one, wouldn't it?"

Becker was crowding behind her now, leaning over her the way he usually did, but she didn't pay that any attention – she was staring at the screen, just like he was.

"We're going – right now," Becker said suddenly, snapping into action. "Connor and Emily will have to catch us up."

He grabbed a black box and ran out of the Hub. Matt and Abby stayed behind to fix Jess with confused looks.

"Who's Jake?" Matt asked.

Abby's eyes widened. "Jake as in his _nephew_?"

Jess nodded. "Go – _now." _

XXXXX

It took the team ten minutes to get to the helicopter, and it was going to take a further fifteen minutes or so to get to Abingdon. Becker was tense and silent on the drive to the heliport, and Abby and Matt didn't say anything to try and snap him out of it. They also hadn't said anything when he'd barked out orders for twenty of his men to get to the museum on the next helicopter, and if they though that the number was a tad excessive, they didn't let it show. He didn't think it was excessive – Becker knew the building, though he'd never been inside, and it was pretty damn big, _and _in the middle of the town, _and _there would be loads of people in there.

_Jake was in there._

As soon as Jess had said Abingdon he'd had a bad feeling, but he'd never imagined that Jake would be in immediate danger. And he was – in very immediate danger. And there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it until he got there. Matt and Abby clearly sensed his frustration and that's why they didn't say anything as the helicopter flew over London.

Jess, on the other hand, didn't stop talking.

Jess was nervous – Becker could tell, because when she was nervous she babbled. She wasn't babbling now – everything she said was relevant to the mission at hand – but still, he could tell. He wanted to say something to reassure her, but as he was feeling far from reassured himself he couldn't think of anything helpful to say. Besides, Jess' running commentary was actually helping to calm him down somewhat – at least he had some idea of what was happening. So he sat staring unseeingly out of one of the helicopter's windows and listened.

"_The police have arrived on the scene – they're sealing the building… Two more helicopters just lifted off – Connor and Emily are on board, along with Becker's men… ETA six minutes for chopper one… Building secure, we're going with a drill… The cameras are heavily encrypted, but I'm getting there… ETA four minutes for chopper one… Okay I'm in, scanning the cameras now for anomaly… All public being moved to main gallery at the front of the building, which is clear… There's quite a few school parties there… Right, I've got the anomaly, it's – thank god – it's in one of the storage rooms at the top of the building – no sign of an incursion… Staff are all downstairs, looks like no one's seen it… Chopper One ETA two minutes…"_

"Jess, get the police to start evacuating the building," Matt said suddenly. "Now that we know where the anomaly is, it's safe to get them out."

"_Already on it_," Jess replied. "_I've – wait, I see movement_."

Becker froze, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Matt and Abby do the same. They all waited with baited breath for Jess to speak again, and when she did Becker's heart plummeted in his chest.

"_Yep, we have an incursion,_" she said. "_I'm not sure what it is – it's reptilian… it's walking on four legs, about two metres tall, maybe more… and three, no four long, at least… big tail with spikes… it's moving quite slowly_."

"Sounds like a stegosaurus," Abby said. "Smaller, though."

Becker didn't really care what it was, just that it stayed on the upper floors. "Have they started evacuating?" Becker asked tensely.

"_Yes_," Jess said. "_There's a fire escape close to the main gallery, and people are being moved to the green outside._"

The helicopter was starting to descend now, and Becker looked out of the window – he could see the museum directly below them, and people spilling out of it at one side. He couldn't make out individuals but he could see that many of them seemed to be children. He hoped that Jake was already out, and then tried not to feel guilty that he was only thinking about his nephew's safety.

The chopper was coming in to land on the other side of the building, so the evacuation was soon blocked from Becker's view. He turned to look at Matt.

"I'm going to head upstairs to deal with the creature," he said firmly.

Matt nodded. "I'll come with you, and lock the anomaly," he said. "Abby, oversee the evacuation, make sure everyone's out. When the others get here get them to start sweeping the building from top to bottom to make sure we haven't missed anyone. Or anything."

Abby nodded, and the helicopter landed with a slight bump. Becker leapt out of his seat and was jumping out of the door before the rotor blades stopped spinning above him. He ran across the green the helicopter had landed in and across the road to the museum, the other two on his heels. He could hear the sound of the other helicopter approaching as they ran up the front steps and burst into the lobby of the building.

"_Turn left, and go up those stairs next to the ticket desk_," Jess said immediately. Becker and Matt did as she said without question, EMDs held ready in front of them.

"_Go straight ahead to the other end of the corridor, and then through the double doors… up those stairs – this is the staff staircase – up two floors and through the doors again… Matt, the anomaly's through the second door on the right, nothing else has come through."_

"Right, I'll lock it – be careful," Matt said to Becker, pausing outside the open door – the flickering light gave away that the anomaly was indeed in that room.

Becker nodded. "Jess?"

"_Two doors down, on your left_," Jess said immediately.

Becker nodded again and moved off down the corridor, slower this time with his EMD trained in front of him. He could hear a low growling from the inside of the room, and then a crash as something was obviously overturned.

"_It's just inside the door, and it's quite agitated," _Jess said. "_Be careful_."

Becker just nodded, assuming Jess could see him through a camera, and flattened himself against the wall, creeping along to get close enough for a shot. The rumbling growl was louder now, much louder, and even if Jess hadn't described the creature Becker would have been able to tell that it was big.

He was by the door jamb now and tensed, preparing himself to step round and take the shot.

"_You've got a clear shot, and its back's to you_," Jess said. "_You – BECKER DUCK!" _

Becker didn't hesitate – he allowed his knees to buckle under him and then rolled forward. As he did he felt the air above him shift as the creature's tail swiped just over his head, missing by inches, and as he came up into a crouch in the middle of the corridor the spikes of the creature's tail buried themselves into the wall where his head had been a second before. Plaster rained down onto the floor and dust filled the air – Becker wasted no more time in taking his shot. The creature still had its back to him and roared as the first burst of energy rolled over it – two more shots and it collapsed.

Becker let out a relieved breath, and then took a deep breath – which was a stupid thing to do because all he got was a lungful of plaster dust.

And so all Matt saw when he stepped out into the was the dust settling, the edge of the creature's tail and Becker on his knees coughing his heart out.

"Er-"

"_He's okay_," Jess assured Matt. "_I think._"

Becker could hear the uncertainty in Jess' voice, and he struggled to get his coughing under control. He stood up and swallowed a couple of times.

"I'm fine," he said. His voice was hoarse, and he cleared his throat and had to swipe a tear away from the corner of his eyes. Matt noticed and smirked at him. Becker was in no mood for their usual banter, and just turned away, back to the downed creature.

"I'm fine," he repeated, for Jess' benefit. His eyes fell on the hole the thing had gouged in the wall, and he swallowed again. "Thanks. Is the evacuation –"

"_Everyone's out_," Jess said. "_And the security team are sweeping the building for strays. I'm sending Abby and some of the others up to you to help get the creature back through the anomaly._"

"Great, thanks Jess," Matt said.

Becker's instinct was to go down and really make sure that everyone was out – okay, that _Jake _was out – but he believed Jess when she said the evacuation was complete, and he knew his place was there with the creature.

"There's probably a trolley or something around here that we can load it on to," Becker said.

It took eight of them to get the thing loaded onto a very handy trolley, and even so Becker almost put his back out doing it. But they got it back through the anomaly without any further incident, and just in time – not a minute later it stuttered and then disappeared.

"Well, I guess we'd better wrap things up here and clear out," Matt said. "Do we have a statement prepared, Jess?"

"_Yes, I'll feed it to you,_" Jess replied. "_There's some press out front so you'd better go now."_

Matt nodded and headed off, Abby following him. Becker heard the tell-tale click of Jess cutting her transmission, meaning she was opening a private line with Matt. He hated that he actually felt uncomfortable without Jess' reassuring presence in his ear, and he told himself to get a grip.

Becker assigned four of his men to cover the museum for the rest of the day, and then followed them. The press were at the front of the building, where they'd come in, so Becker avoided that part of the building and headed for the back instead. He wanted to check on Jake, but all he would do was confuse the kid, plus he and his class had probably left by now. He would give Tabby a call that night and make sure he was alright. So instead, he just wanted to get back to the ARC.

He spotted Abby standing just outside a door leading outside, and headed out to join her.

"We should probably go," he said to her. "There's nothing else to do here and there are too many people around for my liking."

Abby nodded and opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by a small voice carrying across the green.

"Uncle Hil?"

Becker's head snapped round and for the first time he noticed that there was a large crowd of people just across the green, amongst them a large group of schoolchildren.

He spotted Jake in an instant – he was just behind the tape, with the rest of his class, and staring at him with wide eyes. Becker couldn't help but smile at the sight of him, so relieved to see he was okay, and raised a hand to wave. Jake grinned back and, before Becker could say anything, ducked round a police officer and ran towards him.

Becker saw a woman who must be Jake's teacher look round in alarm and start to come after him, but instead of calling to Jake to stop he crouched down and held out his arms for his nephew to barrel into him.

"Uncle Hil!" He exclaimed happily as Becker hugged him tightly with his free arm.

Becker looked up and saw Jake's teacher a few feet away, and she looked at him in surprise when she heard Jake call him uncle. She gave him a small nod and backed away – Becker guessed his and Jake's family resemblance was enough to convince her that they really were related.

Becker let go of Jake and knelt next to him, examining his face closely for any sign of trauma. He knew he wasn't injured, but it must have been a scary situation for him. "Are you alright?" He asked.

Jake was staring at the EMD in Becker's hand, and didn't seem to have heard him. "You've got a big gun!" He said. His eyes widened as he took in the plaster dust over his shirt. "Are there bad guys here? Are you hurt Uncle Hil? Did you have to fight the bad guys?"

He was fine, clearly. Becker's lips twitched and he shook his head. "Um – no," he said. "It's… there was a problem with the building, and me and my team are just her to make sure everybody's safe."

Jake stood up on his tiptoes and looked over Becker's shoulder. "Is Auntie Jess here too?" He asked excitedly.

"_Auntie Jess_?" Abby repeated gleefully

Damn, Becker had forgotten she was standing there. He glanced up at her and saw that her eyes were shining like it was Christmas morning. He tried to ignore her and turned back to Jake.

"Er, no," he said. "No she's not."

Jake's face fell. "Oh," he said glumly. Then he suddenly smiled again. "But we're going to the museum soon, aren't we?"

Becker frowned. "What museum, this museum?" He asked.

"No, the one in London with the T-Rex!" Jake exclaimed with a grin. "Last night Auntie Jess said you would take me, and she promised she'd come too."

Becker didn't really have anything he could say to that – though he was a little surprised that Jess had said something like that. It wasn't true, clearly, and he should probably put him straight. But looking down into Jake's excited face, he couldn't bring himself to disappoint him. Which was probably why Jess had said what she had. "Okay, well, we'll do that," he said. "Soon."

Jake grinned, and Becker smiled back. He glanced up at Jake's teacher, hovering a few metres away, and squeezed Jake's shoulder. "You'd better go back to your teacher," he said.

Jake nodded. "Okay." He reached forward and hugged Becker tightly again. "Bye, Uncle Hil!"

"Bye Jake."

Jake gave him one last grin before running back over to his teacher, who took him by the hand and led him back to his class, no doubt telling him off for running off like that. Becker stood up, smiling and shaking his head.

"_Auntie _Jess?"

Becker spun round and glared at Abby's smirking face.

"Shut up," he said flatly, heading back towards the building.

Abby fell into step beside him, still grinning. "No seriously, why does he call her that?" She asked.

"He just does."

"And he spoke to her last night?"

"Yeah," Becker said. He could still see Abby smirking, and he turned to face her. "Look, if you must know, Jake really took a shine to Jess, and my sister called her last night and she talked to him."

Abby's smirk just widened. "Sounds like your family and Jess grew awfully close," she said suggestively.

Becker scowled. "Shut up, Abby," he said, starting to walk again.

Abby reached out and grabbed hold of Becker's elbow, stopping him again. "Becker," she said, her smirk gone and her voice serious. "Did anything happen with you and Jess?" She asked him, her eyes searching his face. "Because I thought that nothing had, but you've both been acting so weird this week…"

For a moment, the temptation to tell Abby the truth was pretty strong. But the knowledge that she would likely take a swing at him if he did held him back… besides, he just wanted to forget it all, and having Abby know the truth would hardly help with that.

Luckily, he didn't need to think of something to say, because Jess herself came to his rescue.

His radio clicked as she came back on line again.

"_Becker? Abby? Where are you guys?_"

Abby quirked an eyebrow at Becker, as if she knew how relieved he was at the interruption. He just raised an eyebrow back at her. "We're just outside the building," Abby replied to Jess. She smirked, and Becker sensed trouble. "Something wrong, Auntie Jess?"

There was a pause before Jess answered. _"I take it you found Jake. Is he okay?"_

Becker just started walking again. "He's fine," he told Jess.

"Very excited about going to the museum with his Uncle Hil and Auntie Jess…" Abby said. Becker glared at her, and she grinned, completely unrepentant.

There was another pause. "_The chopper's ready to leave. I'll see you when you get back_."

"Yeah, thanks," Becker said.

The radio clicked again. Jess usually didn't cut her transmission to them after a mission unless she needed to, so Becker knew she was feeling awkward.

He scowled at Abby again, and she just gave him an annoyingly understanding look.

"Fine, don't tell me," she said. "Just know that I know."

XXXXX

Jess left the ARC as early as she could that night. She'd spent the afternoon clearing up loose ends from the anomaly alert, and though that usually didn't bother her, the alert today had really shaken her up. Alerts in public places were always tricky, but all those little kids in the museum made it so much worse… Even after everything she'd seen since, she still saw that girl on the trampoline in her school whenever there was an alert with children nearby.

And Jake had been there. Little Jake. Sweet, adorable Jake. Jess had been so worried, and yet… she couldn't show it. Becker had clearly been wound up and tense about it, but jess had had to hide how out of her mind scared she was when she'd realised Jake was at that museum. And then that creature had almost… it was just lucky that Becker had such quick reflexes. Half the plaster on the wall had been ripped off by that thing's tail.

She was so sick of the pretence. So sick of having to hide how she felt in front of Becker. She was going to carry on, because what else could she do… but she hated it. And now Abby had latched onto the whole 'Auntie Jess' thing, and she'd been teasing her about it all afternoon. It was going to be a long weekend, having to put up with her going on about it like she knew she would, but at least it was two days away from Becker.

It was just cosmic, honest-to-god ridiculous sod's law that of course, _of course_, Becker was just entering the locker room as she left it.

He stopped short at the sight of her, and she did the same, her hand tightening on the strap of her handbag. They stared at each other in silence for a moment before she forced herself to speak. "Hi."

"Hi."

Pause. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Becker said. He shifted awkwardly. "Thanks to you."

Jess shrugged, not wanting to talk about it. At all. "And Jake was okay?" She asked, after another pause.

"Yeah," Becker said. He smiled a little. "He liked my EMD."

Jess smiled as well. A little. "I'm glad he was alright."

"So… we're taking him to the museum?" Becker said with another small smile. This one Jess could tell was forced.

"Oh. Yeah." Jess could feel herself blushing, and she looked away to try and hide it. "I was going to tell you about… I was telling him about the Natural History Museum in London and I said he should ask you to take him and he… well…"

"Assumed you'd be coming too," Becker filled in.

Jess looked back at him and shrugged again. "He's hard to say no to," she said.

Becker nodded, just looking at her, and Jess decided the safest thing would be to just get out of there. This was just so awkward, and she was too raw after the events of that day to keep up her okay-with-everything routine.

"I – er, I guess I'll see you Monday?" She said, with her own forced smile.

Becker nodded. "Yeah. Have a good weekend."

"You too."

He stood aside to let her pass him, and Jess wasted no time in making a hasty retreat. She had two days to get her head back in the game, and she was determined to do just that.

TBC

By the way, before anyone checks, there's no Natural History Museum in Abingdon that I'm aware of…


	25. Chapter 25

I'm really excited to post this, because it's been half-written for almost a year now! The next chapter is partly written too, but don't get too excited – I've got a super busy weekend ahead of me, and I'm not going to have any time to write :-( I'm also going away for a week on Wednesday, so I will try my hardest to get the next chapter up before then, but no promises! I hope you don't hate me too much after reading this…

As always, thanks so much for the reviews! I'm glad you enjoyed Jake's return in the last chapter.

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

Abby and Connor went to the pictures that night. On the one hand Jess was glad – Connor had cottoned onto the 'Auntie Jess' joke as quickly as Abby had, and every time she'd seen them all afternoon that's what they'd called her. She'd rolled her eyes and called them things like 'dearie' and 'sweetie' in return as a joke, but it had taken quite a lot to keep up her carefree attitude. At least she didn't have to worry about that with them gone for a few hours.

Of course, the flip side of their absence meant that Jess had time to mope. She'd tried her best to avoid moping all week, and for the most part she'd been successful. Being at work had helped, and she'd set herself lots of boring tasks and errands for the weekend to fill her time… but somehow she'd forgotten to plan for Friday evening, so with Abby and Connor gone she had nothing to do but think.

She was still upset by what had happened that day. She hated the idea of any member of the public being in danger, especially children… and the fear she'd felt when she'd realised little Jake was in such immediate danger had been like an icy knife in the gut. But worse was after the anomaly when everything was fine, because she had had to cover up all her fears and worry, and burying her feelings wasn't becoming an easier.

The 'Auntie Jess' jokes had it made so much worse as well. Abby and Connor obviously didn't realise how much it hurt her whenever they called her that, so she couldn't really blame them. But it did hurt – she'd been so focussed on losing Becker that she hadn't really thought about the rest of his family. Yes she'd only known them for a few days but it really upset Jess to think that she wasn't going to see any of them again.

She just had to get them to stop calling her. She'd told Becker earlier that Ronnie hadn't told his sisters the truth about them, but it had been just before the anomaly alert went off, so he'd probably forgotten about it… which meant the need for another awkward conversation. But she'd have to do it, because she didn't want to stretch out her break with his family any longer than necessary – it was hurtful enough as it is.

Jess was once again staring at the practically empty fridge, thinking that she should probably add 'shopping' to her list of weekend errands and deciding that a takeaway was in order, when her mobile started ringing from the front room. It was another unsaved mobile number.

Jess sighed heavily. Who was it this time? She could think of three likely candidates, and she didn't want to speak to any of them.

Jess clapped her hands over her eyes for a moment, seriously considering just ignoring the call. She really wasn't in the mood to lie to Becker's family because, for some reason, his sister hadn't told them the truth_. She shouldn't have to_, especially after the day she'd just had.

She'd had enough – she really had. But unfortunately she was too polite to ignore it, so she shook her head and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"_Hi Jess, it's Ronnie_."

Jess was suddenly quite glad she'd picked up the phone – if she had Ronnie on the line, maybe she could find out _why_ she was still pretending she and Becker were together. Maybe she could actually sort everything out without having to talk to Becker about it.

"Hi Ronnie," Jess said, slightly more cheerfully. "How are you?"

"_Fine, thanks. You_?"

"I'm okay – it's been a busy day at work."

"_Well I'll be quick I promise – I just wanted to give you the details for my birthday party_," said Ronnie.

Jess frowned, feeling very confused. "_I... didn't Hil tell you that... I thought you knew that it wasn't real_," she said stupidly.

"_Well yeah but... what about at the wedding_?" Ronnie said, sounding confused herself. "_And the next morning? No way was that pretend_."

Jess' eyes widened at Ronnie's words, and the truth hit her so suddenly her breath caught in her throat. _She didn't know. She hadn't told the rest of her family the truth because she didn't know_. When Ronnie had left the hotel on Sunday morning, she and Becker had been, well, together for real. Jess had just assumed that Becker had told Ronnie that they hadn't actually stayed together… but clearly he hadn't.

Her mind was racing – _why _hadn't he told her?

Jess sank down onto the sofa, her mind racing. He hadn't told her? Why hadn't he told her? _She didn't know_… Well, if Becker hadn't told Ronnie the truth – for whatever reason – then she had to. She shook herself and sat up a bit straighter. "_No it wasn't then – but... well... we're not together_," she said.

Admitting it out loud for the first time actually physically hurt.

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and when Ronnie spoke again she sounded irate. "_What? Why not_?" She demanded. She let out an exasperated breath. "_What did my _idiot_ brother do_?"

"He's not an idiot," Jess said quickly, defensively. She sighed a little and shrugged, even though Ronnie couldn't see it. "He just... look, it's complicated," Jess said forlornly. "What we do for a living... I can't explain properly, but it wouldn't work. For a moment over the weekend we managed to forget about our real lives but unfortunately come Monday we were back living them."

There was another, longer pause. "_Do you love him_?" Ronnie said eventually.

Jess dropped her head back against the back of the couch. She thought about lying, but she just didn't have the energy anymore. "I think you know the answer to that," she said quietly.

Ronnie sighed as well. "_I'm sure he'll come to his senses_..."

"No, he was right," Jess said. "He – I'm sorry Ronnie, but I don't want to talk about it."

"_Okay, we won't_," Ronnie said promptly. "_But listen Jess, you're still invited to the party, if you want to come. Jake will be heartbroken if you're not there... and my Dad will be too_." She paused again. "_You don't have to be there as Hil's girlfriend... just as you_."

Jess could feel her eyes filling with tears, and knew she had to end the conversation quickly.

"That's really sweet of you, but I don't think it's a good idea," she said.

"_Let me know if you change your mind_," Ronnie said. She sounded so earnest, and Jess had to smile.

"Thanks Ronnie," she said. "Have a great birthday."

"_Thanks,_" said Ronnie. "_Bye Jess_."

"Bye."

XXXXX

Usually Becker was very proud of the men he commanded at the ARC. That evening, though, he found himself cursing their efficiency. You'd think that after an anomaly he'd have loose ends to tie up, but no. He'd had no reason to stay at work late, and so there he was at home with nothing to do but think.

To be honest, it had been like this all week. He'd got home and sat around with his thoughts chasing themselves in circles. He'd cleaned his gun collection three times, something he usually did once a fortnight at the most. He'd sorted and alphabetised his CD collection. The other night he'd started making the compilation disc he'd promised Ross, but had soon realised he was adding nothing but really angsty love songs. It was when he was contemplating _I'm All Out Of Love _that he thought it would be best to wait until he was in a better frame of mind.

So that evening Becker was just lying on his sofa, flicking between TV channels and desperately hoping there would be something showing to distract him. He didn't have high hopes.

After an hour or so, when he was starting to think he should probably eat something if he could be bothered to move, a distraction came in the form of his phone ringing. A glance at the caller ID told him it was his sister.

He paused before answering – he'd been expecting this call.

"Hi Tabby."

She paused before saying anything, and he just waited silently. "_Hil… I'm guessing you can't tell me what happened_?" She said eventually.

"There was a suspected carbon monoxide leak, but it was a false alarm," Becker said monotonously, parroting the statement that Matt had fed to the press.

"_And they called in the army for that_?" Tabby said. Her tone was almost the same as her usual dry one, but Becker could hear an edge of nervousness under it.

"It can be very dangerous," he said evasively.

She snorted at that, but didn't push any further. She paused again. "_Were you hurt_?" She asked.

He could clearly picture the gouge in the wall that could easily have been his face instead. "No."

"_Good_." Tabby paused again, and Becker heard her sigh. "_Well, I'm not going to ask what really happened, but thanks… for whatever it was you did_."

Becker knew he should say something to refute her assuming he was lying, but he couldn't be bothered – she wasn't stupid. "Is Jake okay?" He asked okay.

"_He's fine_," Tabby declared airily. "_Favourite trip to the museum ever_."

Becker smiled. "Good."

"_He drew a picture of you – you holding a silver gun as big as him_."

Becker smirked. "He has quite the imagination," he said.

"_Uh-huh_," Tabby said, sounding like she was smirking as well. "_Alright, well, I just wanted to make sure you're okay_."

"I am."

"_I'll see you soon – love you_."

Becker smiled again. "Love you too."

"_Bye_."

It was not ten minutes later that his phone buzzed again. It was a text from Mindy.

-_So Tabs says you saved Jake from a poisonous cloud by shooting it with a bazooka._-

Becker rolled his eyes as he wrote back. -_Yes. That's exactly what happened_.-

-_Good boy. Xxx_-

He smiled at Mindy's simple reply.

His sisters were a lot to handle, but he had to admit he felt a little better having spoken to them. It had been an emotionally draining day, preceded by an emotionally draining week, and even though it had terrified him beyond belief to have Jake in danger like that, it was kind of nice that they knew that something had happened for once.

Becker had lived alone since university, and was usually perfectly happy in his own company. But having spent pretty much every waking moment of the last weekend with Jess, in the midst of his family as well, Becker had really felt the solitude the past week. It was nice to be reminded that he _wasn't _actually alone… and yes he was well aware of how unbelievably sappy that sounded.

He went back to flicking through channels.

Five minutes after Mindy's text, his phone rang again, and this time it was Ronnie. Tabby must have phoned both of them straight after she spoke to him.

He answered the phone. "Hi Ronnie."

"_You are such an _idiot."

Becker lay back on the sofa. "Why this time?" He asked. It wasn't what he'd been expecting her to say, but it also wasn't the first time a conversation with her had started like this.

"_What's going on with you and Jess_?" Ronnie demanded.

Becker's eyes widened, and he suddenly remembered his conversation with Jess that day, after he'd caught the tail end of her phone call with his Dad. She'd said that Ronnie hadn't told the others the truth about them, and it had only been then that Becker'd realised that he hadn't _told _Ronnie that they weren't together.

Well, he'd realised it. Of course he had. He was just… avoiding that particular conversation. It was hard enough without Ronnie laying into him.

Becker suddenly scowled at the ceiling. He'd had the week from hell, most of it spent wallowing in his own self-inflicted misery and culminating in an attack by a _dinosaur_ a matter of hours ago – he was not in the mood to be spoken to like he was a little kid.

"You know what Ronnie, it's none of your business," he said tersely. "And don't say that you practically raised me, or changed my nappies, or walked me to school every day... it doesn't give you a right to pry into my relationships, or judge my decisions, or know every detail of my life. It's _none of your business_."

"_Hilary."_

Becker slung his arm over his eyes and groaned. He wanted to be angry at her, but she wasn't the problem – he was. "I screwed up so badly," he admitted.

"_What happened_?" Ronnie asked, sounding a little less harsh.

Becker sighed. "I wasn't really thinking about me and Jess beyond the weekend... and then as we were leaving the hotel it hit me that we were going back to our real lives... and I just sort of panicked, and I told her we shouldn't take it any further."

"_Oh Hil..."_

"I know what you're going to say, but you don't know what it is we do. Us together, it would be so... complicated," Becker said defensively.

He could practically _hear_ Ronnie rolling her eyes. "_What did Jess say_?"

"She... that's the weird thing," Becker said, frowning. "She seemed upset, but she agreed with me. I felt so bad about hurting her, and Sunday night I couldn't stop thinking about it and I realised that... well, I realised that I wanted to give it a try anyway."

"_So tell her that_!" Ronnie exclaimed.

"I was going to, but when I saw her the next day she was completely... normal," Becker said. "I mean, like the weekend had never even happened. She wasn't even embarrassed or anything... and the thing is, it would be _so_ complicated, and if she's able to move on, then it's better if I just leave it be."

There was a pause, and then: "_I repeat – you're an idiot_."

Becker sighed. "Ronnie..."

"_You need to talk to Jess_," she cut him off.

"I can't."

"_I mean it – go find her, right now, and talk this out_." She was practically growling at him at this point.

Becker shook his head. "I need to let it go."

"_You need to grow a pair and go and talk to her_," Ronnie insisted.

"She's moved on!" Becker exclaimed.

"_You know _nothing_ about women, Hil_," Ronnie said. "_Believe me when I tell you no one moves on that quickly_."

Becker just tightened his arm over his eyes and stayed quiet. There wasn't anything his sister could say to convince him he was wrong – he was the one who'd been around Jess all week, not her. He knew the truth.

"_Do you love her_?" Ronnie asked suddenly.

Becker froze – it was a question he'd avoided thinking about all week, but trust his annoying oldest sister to cut right through to it. He thought about lying, but found he just didn't have the energy for it.

"I think you know that answer to that," he said reluctantly.

Ronnie chuckled, and Becker sighed. "What?"

"_Jess just gave me the exact same answer_," Ronnie said airily.

"_What_?" Becker's arm dropped to his side and his eyes popped wide open.

"_Like I said, you need to go talk to her_," Ronnie said, sounding all kinds of smug. "_Call me tomorrow_."

There was a click, and the line went dead. Becker slowly removed his phone from his ear, staring up at the ceiling with wide eyes.

Was Ronnie right? _You know nothing about women, Hil… _well, there was plenty of evidence to support that. But Jess had been so… so _fine _all week. Hadn't she? Today had been a bit awkward… but the rest of the week, not at all. But then, of course, he'd been avoiding her as much as possible.

_Jess just gave me the exact same answer…_

Decision made in a split second, Becker jumped up, grabbed his phone and keys, and practically sprinted out of his flat.

TBC


	26. Chapter 26

I am SO happy to be posting this. It was one of the first scenes I wrote for this story, so I'm just so excited to have finally got to it! I'm going away on Wednesday for work and I most likely won't be able to update this before then – I hope you don't think of this as an awful cliffhanger. I'm sure your imaginations will fill in the blanks until I return and fill them for you… :-)

Enjoy!

**Chapter twenty-six**

Her conversation with Ronnie had shaken Jess. Speaking to Ronnie was different than speaking to Tabby or Ted, because she knew the truth. Though Jess was sick of pretending, the truth was exhausting too, and now that Ronnie knew where things stood there was nothing but the truth left. She'd pass on the message to Tabby and Ted and the others, and that would be the end of it.

It was what Jess wanted – well, not _wanted_, but definitely needed – and now she really could move on. She wouldn't have to worry about talking to Becker about setting Ronnie straight, she wouldn't have to worry about any of his sisters calling her. Carrie would get back from her honeymoon and not get in touch. Mindy would be disappointed that there wouldn't be another Becker wedding to look forward to at some point, but she'd get over it. Tabby would react in much the same way as Tabby, but Becker would have to deal with that. And Becker would have to go to his sister's fortieth birthday party alone.

These were all good things, even if just thinking about them made Jess feel hollow. Everything was returning to how it should be.

Jess ordered a pizza, found a QI marathon on Dave and lay back on the sofa to watch and wait, deciding that once she'd eaten she'd have a nice long bath and then an early night.

There was a knock on the door, and Jess went to answer it, not bothering to look through the peephole first.

It was Becker.

Jess' first reaction was surprise, but hard on the heels of that came a realisation that she _shouldn't _be surprised to see him. Why had she thought that everything would just be fine now, now that she'd spoken to Ronnie on the phone? Jess realised then that the first thing Ronnie would have done was call Becker, that she had probably told him how Jess had sounded on the phone, and now he was here to… Jess couldn't bear to think. This was exactly what she _didn't _want to happen – she didn't want Becker to feel sorry for her, or to feel guilty. She didn't want to make a big deal out of it all… she _just wanted to forget it_.

Becker was staring at her, searching her face as if he was looking for something – probably for something to feel guilty about.

Okay, so this was going to be hell. The best thing she could do would be get it over with quickly, and hopefully with _some _of her dignity intact.

She swallowed. "You're not the pizza delivery guy," she said, trying to break the ice.

Becker quirked an eyebrow at her. "No."

Jess managed a small smile. "Shame – I'm starving."

Becker didn't smile back. "Can I come in?" He asked.

She wanted to refuse, but she couldn't see any way to do so without making things worse for herself. She nodded and opened the door wider. "Sure."

He stepped in, his car key swinging from one hand. He was dressed in his civilian clothes – jeans and a pale t-shirt – and aside from looking good enough to eat, the outfit just made it more difficult for Jess generally. When he was out of uniform, it was difficult for her to keep thinking of him as _Becker_ rather than _Hil. _And that was an important distinction at this point.

"Where are Abby and Connor?" Becker asked as Jess shut the door behind him.

"The pictures," she said, wishing that she'd gone with them. "I didn't really feel like it. Do you want a drink or something?"

She moved towards the kitchen without waiting for an answer or even looking at him, quickly moving around the counter to put some space between the two of them. He followed her, but thankfully stopped on the other side of the counter.

"So my sister tells me I'm an idiot."

_Wow_. He wasn't wasting any time. Jess had thought he'd take a while to come to the point, but there was no hesitation in his tone. He was clearly very determined to have this conversation.

Well, Jess was equally determined not to lose face, so she took a deep breath and smirked at him over her shoulder. Her hands were gripping the edge of the counter top to stop her fingers trembling, but she doubted he could see that. "You'll have to narrow that down for me – all your sisters think you're an idiot," she quipped.

Becker's lips twitched at that, but he still didn't smile. "True," he said. "This time it was Ronnie."

"Oh," said Jess, as if that were news to her. She turned away again, and took her time getting a couple of glasses down from the cupboard, just to give herself something to do while she struggled to get her thoughts together. This was so unfair – hadn't he toyed with her enough in the past week? Why couldn't he just leave it alone?

He wasn't saying anything else, so it was for Jess to fill the silence. As part of her 'getting-it-over-with' strategy, she decided to just get straight to the point. She turned back to Becker, and leant back against the counter. Becker was sitting on one of the stools on the other side of the counter, still fiddling with his car keys in one hand.

"She called me earlier, about her birthday party," Jess said. "She invited me anyway."

Becker's eyebrows shot up. "Are you going?" He asked.

"No," Jess said firmly, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Only Becker would think that her going to his sister's fortieth under those circumstances would be a good idea. "I think that would be pretty confusing for everyone."

Becker nodded, and lapsed into silence again. Jess could see he'd lost some of his earlier drive, but the opposite had happened to her. She felt more in control than when she'd first answered the door, and she wanted him out of there as soon as possible.

"So... why are you here?" She asked, quietly but firmly.

Becker was staring down at the keys in his hand, and if it wasn't for his shoulders tensing Jess would have thought that he hadn't heard her. He clearly had though, and a moment later he reached out and put the keys down on the countertop with an audible _click_. There was another moment's silence.

"Because I _am _an idiot," he said.

He looked up and stared at her intently. "I made a mistake," he said. "Telling you that... we couldn't give it a try. Because I want to. Give it a try." His ears and neck were tinged with pink and his hands were clasped together nervously, but his gaze was no less intense.

Jess had to admit that she hadn't been expecting him to say that. She'd been expecting apologies and awkwardness, but not… _not that_. Her heartbeat sped up, but she couldn't believe for one second that he meant it. She hadn't realised he was so very intimidated by his sister, but there was the proof.

Jess swallowed hard. "Did Ronnie threaten you in some way?" She said, hoping to diffuse the tension with some humour. It didn't work – Becker surged to his feet, leaning on the counter in front of him and staring at her so hard that she pressed back against the counter behind her.

"Jess, I was regretting it the minute I dropped you off here on Sunday," Becker said firmly. "I spent the entire day and most of the night thinking what about what a coward I was. Because that's what it was – cowardice." He paused for breath, and his eyes changed from intense to guilty. "I got scared, and I let you down. And I'm so sorry."

Jess was reeling. It was a good thing she was leaning against the counter, because she'd be on the floor otherwise. He was… he was _serious_. He really meant it. He was really sorry, really standing there and telling her that he'd made a mistake. He was asking for another chance.

But… the timing. Why now?

He was staring at her again, waiting for her to say something, and Jess blinked a couple of times. "Why didn't you say anything?" She asked.

Becker stood back from the counter a little, suddenly looking very awkward. "I was going to, but you were so okay with everything on Monday, and I thought... well, I thought you'd be better off, if you're able to move on, past what happened," he said. He gave her another intense look. "Because you _would_ be better off."

Jess stared at him. "You didn't say anything because I seemed too okay with everything?" She repeated.

Becker shrugged a little. "Yeah."

Jess couldn't help her reaction. She laughed. It was just an involuntary chuckle, but then she kept laughing. The entire situation was completely ridiculous – too ridiculous to believe, or to take seriously.

"Um, Jess?" Becker was starting to walk round the counter, and the sight of him moving towards her snapped Jess out of her slightly delirious moment. Suddenly she felt annoyed. _Very_ annoyed.

"I've barely been holding it together these past five days," she snapped, making Becker stop in his tracks. "It has seriously taken every single bit of willpower I have to act normal around you."

Becker stared at her. "It was an act?"

"Of course it was!" Jess exclaimed, letting go of the counter and taking a couple of steps towards him. "I don't know if you've ever noticed this, but I have a bit of a thing for you, and last weekend was so amazing, and then you said what you said and it broke my heart, and all I could think was that I couldn't lose you as a friend as well, so I've been trying so hard to act normal around you..."

"Oh Jess – I'm so sorry," Becker cut in, closing the gap between them and putting his hands on her shoulders. The fight went out of Jess the moment he touched her, and she didn't need to hear the anguish in his voice or see it in his eyes to see how sorry he really was. His hands tightened on her shoulders.

"I really am such an idiot. I never meant to hurt you – god, it's the last thing I wanted to do." He stepped even closer to her. "Please, give me another chance."

Jess felt like all the tension she'd carried around with her the past five days was draining out of her, and she reached up to take hold of Becker's wrists. "I –"

"I promise I will never be such a prat again, I won't be such a coward, and hurt you like that ever again," Becker continued fervently.

Jess started to smile. "I –" she tried again, but Becker didn't appear to be listening to her.

"So please give me another chance–"

"Becker!" Jess laughed.

"–will you?"

It seemed he'd finally finished, and Jess smirked up at him. "That depends," she said.

Becker visibly swallowed. He actually looked nervous, and it was all Jess could do not to laugh again. "On what?" He asked.

Jess' smirk widened. "On whether you're going to shut up and kiss me anytime soon," she said.

Becker let out a laugh, and grinned widely – Jess grinned back, and let go of his wrists as he ran his hands over her shoulders and up the sides of her neck to cup her face. She dropped her own hands down to grip his sides, and her breath hitched in his throat as he bent his head.

There was a knock on the door.

Becker froze, and Jess just about resisted the urge to swear. "That will be my pizza," she said ruefully.

There was another knock, and Becker raised an eyebrow and stepped back. Jess' hands dropped to her sides and she watched silently as Becker strode across her flat and yanked open the front door. Jess walked out of the kitchen and hovered by the other side of the counter.

A pizza box appeared through the doorway, and Becker reached into his pocket and pulled out a twenty pound note, which he all but threw through the door.

"Here, keep the change," he said, already stepping back.

Jess opened her mouth just as the delivery boy started to speak as well. "But –"

Becker closed the door in his face.

Jess was on the verge of laughing. "You know, I'd already paid for that online... so you just gave him a twenty pound tip," she told Becker as he strode back towards her.

Becker's steps slowed slightly for a moment, but he quickly shook it off.

"I'm sure he deserved it," he said dismissively. He tossed the pizza box onto the counter, where it slid to almost the other side before coming to a safe stop. Jess didn't have time to think any more about the pizza, though, because Becker was back in front of her, one of his hands was cupping the back of her neck, his other was on her hip, and then he was kissing her.

The kiss was just this side of desperate, and Jess felt like Becker was almost _pulling _her into him. The hand on her hip slid round her back and yanked her up against him as he sucked her bottom lip into her mouth. Jess wrapped her arms around his neck, burrowing her fingers in his hair and opening her mouth to him willingly, groaning as his tongue pressed against hers. This kiss was different from any of the ones they'd shared over the weekend – the intensity of it was making Jess' head spin. Five days of dancing around each other had ramped up the tension between them to breaking point, and Jess knew that she was about to snap… and it seemed like Becker was as well.

Becker stepped forward so he was crowding her into the counter, and Jess' hip bumped against the stool he'd been sitting on. Becker's arm around her tightened, and then her feet were off the floor and she was sitting on the stool. Her legs parted as Becker stepped close to her, and she hooked her heels behind his knees, keeping him in place against her as leant one arm against the counter behind her. His other hand was on her thigh, teasing the skin under the hem of her skirt, and Jess shuddered at the feel of it.

Her hands became frantic, pulling at his hair one moment and then dragging her nails against the back of his neck before dipping under the bottom of his t-shirt to run her palm over his stomach. All the time his lips were insistent against hers, his tongue tangling with hers and making her moan in the back of her throat every few seconds.

Eventually, of course, the need to breathe properly forced them apart, and Becker pulled back from the kiss. He didn't go far though, his lips hovering just above hers as he rested their foreheads together. They were both grasping for breath, breathing in each other's breath more than anything else, and Jess' hands were raking through his hair as he ran a hand up her side to cup her cheek.

Their eyes met and they both smiled, acknowledging silently that that kiss may have got slightly out of hand. Becker pressed another, softer kiss to her lips.

"I've been needing to do that all week," he said quietly, his voice slightly hoarse. Jess could only nod in response as he placed a kiss on her jaw, and then another just below her ear. Jess' hand tightened in his hair as he parted his lips and suckled on the side of her neck.

"_Hil,_" she gasped.

Becker kissed her neck once more before straightening up to press their foreheads together again. He sighed. "I've missed you calling me Hil," he said softly.

Jess smiled. "I've missed _you_," she said.

Becker's eyes closed briefly. "I'm so sorry," he repeated.

Jess just wrapped her arms back round his neck again. "Show me."

TBC

Okay. The next chapter, I've decided, is going to be M-rated. I've decided that they deserve it after everything I've put them through ;-) However, because it will mess with people's abilities to find this story, I'm not going to change the rating of the story until it's finished, which should be the end of next week (going away for a week on Wednesday…) But yeah – consider yourselves warned. If that's not your thing you can skip the next chapter, and you won't lose any of the plot. Plot will play very little part.


	27. Chapter 27

I am so sorry for the ridiculously long wait for this chapter – I've been seriously busy at work and in real life the last month… there's been lots of travel – let's just say I was in five different countries in the space of two weeks – and this was the first weekend I've had the chance to get any writing done. It was especially annoying because I'm in the final strait now and have been planning these final chapters for a year.

The next chapter will be up as soon as I possibly can get it up – it's the final chapter, with just an epilogue to come after that.

To reiterate – this chapter is rated M for sexual content; if that's not your thing you can skip to the next one without any fear of missing plot. Believe me, there's no plot to be found here.

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

"_Hil," she gasped._

_Becker kissed her neck once more before straightening up to press their foreheads together again. He sighed. "I've missed you calling me Hil," he said softly. _

_Jess smiled. "I've missed you," she said. _

_Becker's eyes closed briefly. "I'm so sorry," he repeated. _

_Jess just wrapped her arms back round his neck again. "Show me."_

Becker's eyes opened and he stared at her for a long moment – long enough for Jess to wonder if she'd maybe pushed him too far – but then he bent his head and kissed her again. His hands tightened on her legs, his thumbs dipping down to run along her inner thighs, making her gasp and lean forward, pressing herself closer to him and deepening their kiss. Her heels were still wrapped around his calves – she slid them up a bit, pushing herself closer to him, and Becker stumbled slightly, breaking their kiss and lifting a hand to brace himself against the counter again.

"Jess…" He whispered in her ear – and she knew that this was his way of asking her if she was sure.

"_God _yes," she gasped.

Becker's mouth crashed back down onto hers, and she clamped her arms tight around his neck as he shifted forward and hoisted her up into his arms. Jess wrapped her legs around his waist and groaned as he started to kiss his way down her neck again.

Jess had her eyes tight shut at the joint sensations of his tongue and teeth nipping at the side of her throat, and his hands grasping at her hips and her backside, but they flew open when Becker pressed her up against the wall. His hips pressed up against hers and she gasped again, her fingernails raking across his scalp.

"God, Hil, get me to bed _now_," she moaned. Becker chuckled against her neck before taking a few steps to the left, and then they were stumbling through her bedroom door. A second later Jess was tipped and her back hit her mattress. She kept her arms tight around Becker and he tumbled down with her, his body pressing her further into the bed and making her moan again at the feel of his weight over her. She could feel his erection pressing into her hip, and she rolled her pelvis against him, making him groan before he captured her lips again.

Jess slid her hands down Becker's back and grabbed hold of the bottom of his t-shirt, pulling it up and exposing the muscle on his back. Becker pulled back from her as she tugged on the shirt, and reached up to rip it off over his head. He knelt up between her legs and went to work on the buttons down the front of her dress, his brow furrowed in concentration as he worked to get the dress undone as quickly as possible. The sight of his bare chest made Jess' breath hitch in her throat – she knew that giving into temptation and running her hands all over him would distract him from getting her undressed, so she selflessly reached down and went to work on his belt buckle instead.

"God, Jess, you are so beautiful," Becker breathed, his eyes raking over her. Her dress was gaping open, and Jess had just enough time to be thankful she'd taken the time to put on matching underwear that morning before he pulled on the strap of her bra and pushed down one of the cups, giving his mouth access to her breast.

Jess cried out something like his name and she pressed herself up, closer to his tongue that was swirling around her nipple and making her pant with desire. Becker took advantage of her arched back to get a hand behind her and unclasp her bra completely – he pushed at it and her dress, which was still around her shoulders. He lifted his head and Jess sat up enough to push the material off completely, shoving the discarded dress and bra down to the end of the bed. Becker cupped the back of her neck and kissed his way along her clavicle, and then down to her breasts again – Jess fell back against the mattress, her hands going to the back of Becker's head to hold him in place as he sucked a bruise on her breast.

His hands were moving too, down her sides and to her hips, and then kept going, one hand sliding underneath the elastic of her knickers and straight down cupping her and dragging his forefinger against her already slick folds. Jess cried out his name again and flung her hands to the sides, grabbing hold of her duvet in her fists just for something to hang on to. Becker withdrew his hand, making Jess whimper with disappointment, but then he pulled her knickers away before surging up her body again to kiss her properly, his tongue diving into her mouth at almost the same moment that his hand reappeared and two of his fingers dipped inside her.

Jess was pretty sure she screamed, but the strangled sound was swallowed by Becker's mouth. Her hands scrabbled for purchase on the duvet as he pulled his fingers out slightly before pushing forward again. His thumb brushed against her clit and she moaned. Becker pulled away from the kiss, and then pushed himself up and off of her. Jess opened her eyes, blinking up at him as he climbed off her, but then his fingers withdrew almost completely before pressing in again, harder than before, and she could only groan and drop her head back. _She_ didn't know what he was doing, but she trusted that he did.

His fingers withdrew but in the same moment Jess felt Becker's hot breath against her inner thigh, and she whimpered as she realised what he was about to do. A second later his tongue licked a path up her folds before delving between them, replacing his fingers. Jess let out a string of intelligible curses as he curled his tongue inside her, igniting every nerve in her body. She delved her hand into his hair, grasping the back of his head and pushing him against her, all thoughts of shyness or embarrassment or _anything else_ completely absent from her mind. Becker didn't seem to mind her being demanding – he withdrew his tongue from her and flicked it against her clit, making her call out his name again, arching her back as he did it again, before closing his lips around her and sucking, hard.

Jess flew apart, her hand tugging at his hair and her head thrown back as she screamed his name. Her orgasm washed over her – crashed over her – and she closed her eyes and gave herself up to it, all sense of time and place flying from her mind.

It was a minute or so before she felt herself come back to reality. She felt like her bones had been removed, and she could just about feel Becker's hand stroking softly across her stomach and along the undersides of her breasts. She opened her eyes again to find that he was lying on his side next to her, his eyes following the path his hand was making over her abdomen. She was completely naked, and he was just shirtless – his belt was undone, and the top button of his flies, but his jeans were still firmly on. Jess could see his erection straining against the fabric, and she felt heat pool in her stomach. Dimly, she felt that she was at a bit of a disadvantage with how easily she got turned on by him, but if he was willing to accommodate her she really didn't see it being a problem.

She looked back up at his face and saw that he was now watching her, and smirking.

"So… am I forgiven?" He asked, his smirk widening.

_Smug bastard. _"I don't know," Jess said, pleased she was able to actually formulate words. She shrugged. "You may have to do that again."

"Your wish is my command," Becker said, before sitting up and starting to shift to the edge of the bed again.

"Hil!" Jess gasped and quickly grabbed hold of his shoulder to pull him back down next to her. He was grinning as he lay back down next to her, and still looked far too smug, so Jess reached down between them and cupped him through his jeans, making him groan and then gasp as she tightened her grip.

"Jess – I – god…"

"Get these off," Jess whispered in his ear, letting go of him and starting to unbutton the rest of his fly. Becker just nodded, but he didn't make any move to help her – instead he cradled her head in both his hands and pulled her into a desperately deep kiss that had Jess panting and rubbing herself against him within seconds. He rolled them over so he was pressing her back into the mattress, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he rocked his hips into her, making her moan into his mouth as the scratchy denim of his jeans rubbed against her sensitive skin.

"Hil – please…" she gasped as he pulled his lips away. He nodded and pulled away from her, sitting up and making short work of getting rid of his last bits of clothing.

He froze suddenly, and gave her a wide-eyed look. "I don't – Jess, tell me you have –"

Jess got what he meant and nodded, scrambling across her bed to reach the drawer of her bedside table. She yanked it open and grabbed hold of a condom from the open box in there, turning back to Becker to find him crawling towards her, completely naked.

Jess' breath caught in her throat and her mouth went dry at the sight of him, and she let out a small moan when he reached her and pushed her back against the headboard, kissing her again.

She broke the kiss after a few seconds. "Need you – _now_," she panted in his ear. He nodded, and took the condom from her hand. A few moments later he was coaxing her further down the mattress, hovering over her with his weight braced on his arms either side of her, and without any more hesitation he slid up and into her.

Jess gasped and they both froze, the feeling so completely exquisite that for a moment neither of them could do anything but feel it. Then Jess moved her legs up around his waist again, and that slight movement created enough friction to make them both groan. Becker dropped his head down to rest his forehead against hers.

"God Jess…"

"I know."

He leant down to kiss her again, but softly this time, and then he started to move his hips, pulling out of her and pushing back in to a slow, steady rhythm that made Jess moan in time to it. She settled one hand on his back, her fingernails digging into his shoulder and making him hiss – she dragged her nails across his shoulder blades and his hips bucked against her, making her gasp. The rhythm got lost slightly after that – Becker's thrusts became deeper and more erratic in their timing, making Jess gasp and groan with every movement, and her own hips pushed back against him, her heels digging into the back of his legs to give her the leverage to pull him in as close to her as possible. Soon, Becker was panting above her, his eyes tight shut and his hands clutching her hips bruisingly tight. Jess could see he was close to letting go, and _god _she wanted to see it. She leant forward and bit his shoulder, just at the bottom of his neck.

"Fu – Jess!" Becker cried out, his hips stuttering against hers. "I – _god…_"

Jess just sucked determinedly at his skin, tightening her legs around him and squeezing her internal muscles around him inside her.

Becker groaned, every single muscle in his body tensing under Jess' touch. Jess could feel him trembling slightly, he was wound so tight, and she knew it was only a matter of moments before he gave in. Then he lifted his torso slightly, pulling his shoulder away from her lips, and surged down to kiss her again. Jess bucked her hips against his, refusing to be quelled, and was rewarded with a high-pitched groan into her mouth. Then she felt his hand moving from her hip and knew that he was going to finish this.

His fingers slid in between their bodies and found her clit, pressing down hard as he thrust into her again. The joint sensations brought Jess to the brink again, and before she knew it she was coming again, her moans being swallowed up by Becker's tongue and then drowned out by his own groans as he finally reached his own climax.

Jess tightened her arms around his shoulders. She wasn't planning on letting go any time soon.

TBC

Okay, I know it's an abrupt ending, but anything else would just eat into the next chapter (which will be up asap!) This is the longest smut scene I've written – let me know what you thought!


	28. Chapter 28

So, this is the last chapter. There's an epilogue to come, which was meant to be short and sweet but will probably end up being the longest chapter knowing me… but technically this is the end of the story. Thank you all so much for the reviews and the love this past year and a bit (phew!) – it's been a long road, but we made it in the end.

Would love to hear what you think of this final proper chapter! Thanks!

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

"That box was open."

Becker hadn't planned on saying that. In fact he was actually a little surprised by the sound of his own voice. He was stretched out on top of the covers of Jess' bed, and she was curled up beside him with her head pillowed on his chest. They'd spent the last ten minutes or so in a relaxed silence, and Becker had been in a strange dreamlike state that alternated between focusing on how relaxed and perfectly happy he was, and what a lucky, jammy bastard he was that Jess had taken him back.

Then his eyes had fallen on the still-open drawer of her bedside table, and amongst the pens, hairclips and other random things that always seemed to accumulate in bedside drawers, the box of condoms they'd just made use of had caught his attention. It was open – obviously – but what was apparent was that more than one had been removed. Definitely more than one. Which was certainly… intriguing. He was intrigued.

But that was no reason to actually say anything about it.

He had though, and Jess lifted her head to see what he was talking about.

"Yeah. So?" She said, her voice muffled against his skin as she put her head back down.

"Nothing," Becker said quickly, wishing he hadn't said anything.

He'd clearly given himself away though, because Jess turned her head so she was looking up at him with her chin resting on his chest, her eyes wide. "Oh my god," she said. "Are you actually jealous because I have an open box of condoms?"

Of course he was. He didn't want to know… but then he also couldn't stand not knowing. She was clearly not a virgin – which was _fine_, obviously, god, he didn't think she was a nun. But… well, condoms had expiry dates and he hadn't realized she was seeing anyone recently…

However, though Becker wasn't an expert on relationships, he did know that this was exactly the kind of line of enquiry that would get him into trouble. It was none of his business.

"I'm not jealous," Becker said, just as quickly again. He could see she wasn't going to drop it, though, so he sighed. "I'm… curious," he added warily.

Jess rolled her eyes. "You're such a bad liar," she said.

Becker rolled his eyes as well and turned his head away from her knowing smirk. She was right – he was a bad liar. Now was a good time to drop this.

Jess had other ideas. She shifted next to him so she was sitting up beside him and leant round his body, leaning her arm across his chest and trying to see his face again.

"If you must know, I bought them last week," she said. _That _got Becker's attention and he looked back at her in surprise. She grinned. "And the reason the box is open is because I took a couple of them with me last weekend."

Becker felt like a bit of prat to be so relieved, but it was definitely good to hear there wasn't anyone else. Then what she'd said sunk in properly, and he started to smirk. "Oh _really_?"

"Uh-huh." Jess shrugged, starting to smirk a little herself. "Everyone knows that weddings are a great place to meet men – I wanted to be prepared."

Becker put his hand to his heart as if she had wounded him. "I can't believe you were going to cheat on me," he said.

Jess shifted her hand a couple of centimetres so it was covering his. "I was very discreet," she said. Her eyes widened. "I mean would have been. _Would have been _discreet."

Becker decided then and there that jokes about her cheating on him were definitely not going to be allowed, so he growled and rolled over, grabbing her hands in his and pinning her under him on the bed. They were both still naked, and their new position was causing certain reactions in them both, but he had a point to make before anything else happened.

"You're not funny," he said with a glare.

"I'm a little bit funny," Jess said, still smiling.

Becker shook his head. "Nope." He twined their fingers together and leant down to kiss her, slowly and softly and as sweetly as he could. He felt Jess' smile fade under his lips and he also felt any other concerns melt away – even the need to have her again. The desire was still there, underlying the kiss, but if kissing her like that was all he was allowed the do for the rest of his life he wouldn't complain.

After a while he broke the kiss, wrapped his arms around Jess and pulled her with him as he rolled over back onto his back. Jess sighed and nuzzled her face into his neck, and he tightened his arms around her in turn, loving the feeling of her weight on top of him – she was definitely the best blanket he'd ever had.

He still couldn't believe how incredibly wrong he'd been about everything the past week. Jess had been pretending the entire time – she'd been _acting_ fine, when really she'd been just as distraught as he was. He knew she was a great actress after her phenomenal show over the weekend, but he hadn't dreamt that that could be the case.

Though maybe she hadn't really been acting over the weekend. _He_ certainly hadn't been most of the time. He smiled – thinking of the weekend now that he had Jess back in his arms, he could focus on all the great stuff that had happened, rather than the way he'd ended it. He'd loved spending so much time with Jess, loved letting his usually repressed feelings for her roam free… now that he'd stopped being such a colossal idiot, he would be able to do those things whenever he wanted.

Thinking of himself as an idiot, though, reminded Becker what had brought him there that evening, and at the thought of his sister his smile was wiped off his face and his arms tightened around Jess.

"What are you thinking about?" Jess asked him.

"Ronnie," he said truthfully.

"Ooookaaaay…." Jess said, starting to sit up and giving him a mock weirded look.

Becker rolled his eyes and pulled her back into a lying position, but this time they were both on their sides, facing each other. Jess grinned at him, and Becker rolled his eyes again.

"She's going to be _so_ smug," he said by way of an explanation.

Jess' grin widened, but she didn't disagree. She looked at him in silence for a few moments before saying anything. "Why didn't you tell her we'd split up?" She asked.

Becker paused before answering – not because he had anything to hide, but because he hadn't really thought about it until then. "I just haven't spoken to her since the weekend," he said. Jess looked pretty incredulous, so he pressed on. "Honestly, it wasn't until you said this morning that Tabby had called you that it even occurred to me I should say something."

Jess shook her head. "You're so hopeless," she said affectionately. Becker smiled.

"I prefer to think of it as my subconscious making it easier for me to come to my senses and put things right between us," he said.

Jess raised an eyebrow at him. "Was it?"

"Probably not," Becker admitted. He shrugged. "It was more to do with the fact that I've spent the entire week moping around feeling sorry for myself and thinking about nothing but you."

Jess rolled her eyes. "You have not," she said dismissively.

"I have," Becker insisted. "What, you don't think I can mope? I can mope."

Jess was grinning now, but shaking her head. Becker propped himself up on his elbow so that he could look down at her. "You should see the CD I was putting together for Ross – I wanted to shoot myself when I saw the list of emo songs I'd chosen."

Jess' grin widened and leant up to give him a quick kiss before lying back down again, rolling more onto her back. She gave him a soft smile, which he returned before placing his free hand on her stomach and starting to rub small circles with his thumb. Her skin was so soft – he didn't think he'd ever get tired of touching her.

Jess closed her eyes and sighed, still smiling.

"What are you thinking about?" Becker asked after a moment.

"Ronnie," Jess answered immediately, opening her eyes again to give him a teasing look. He gave her a mock glare, and she reached out for his hand on her stomach, twining their fingers together again. "I'm glad she called," she said softly.

Becker smiled. "Me too," he said. "But please let's not tell her that."

Jess grinned, but he tightened his grip on her hand and gave her a stern look. "Seriously, she's going to be unbearable," he predicted.

"I don't know," Jess said thoughtfully. "I might send her a thank you card…"

"Don't you dare."

"Maybe some flowers…"

"_Jess_," Becker groaned. She grinned up at him, and he pressed a quick kiss to her mouth just because he could. "Anyway, if you're going to be writing thank you cards…" He said suggestively as he pulled away.

Jess gave him an unimpressed look. "Oh really? I thought that you were still in making it up to me mode?" She said.

Becker nodded. "You're right – no thank you cards necessary," he agreed.

"Damn right. And I'm ready for you to carry on groveling whenever you are." She gave him a pointed look and Becker grinned.

"Yes ma'am," he said.

He let go of her hand so that he could brace himself over her as he bent down to kiss her again, deeply and thoroughly this time. Jess' lips parted easily under his and his tongue swept into her mouth to taste her again. Jess moaned slightly and bent her knee to hook her calf behind his thigh, and Becker moaned a little too, already starting to react to the feel of her body moving against him. Their first time had been amazing, but he was determined to slow things down this time round – he had plenty of Jess he still wanted to explore.

With that goal in mind, Becker left her mouth and started to trail kisses down the side of her neck. Jess shifted under him, her arms going round his shoulders and one hand raking through his hair, making him shudder as her fingernails scraped against his scalp.

Then Jess' stomach rumbled.

It was loud enough for Becker to hear – god, he could practically feel it – and he lifted his head to look at her. She was blushing, looking at him with a completely adorable wide-eyed embarrassed expression on her face.

Becker smirked. "Hungry?" He teased.

Her stomach rumbled again, quieter this time but still audible – he grinned and rolled off her, and Jess' expression turned a bit disgruntled.

"I _was_ about to have dinner before you showed up," she said.

Becker leant over to give her a quick peck on the lips before sitting up properly. "Come on, let's eat," he said, starting to notice that he felt quite hungry too. He hopped off the bed and grabbed his boxer shorts from the floor, quickly pulling them on.

He looked round at Jess – she was sitting up as well, but hadn't moved any further. She was already looking at him when he turned around, and from the slightly guilty look on her face he suspected that she'd been watching him getting dressed.

He smirked as she quickly stood up on the other side of the bed, but decided not to comment on it. For now. "If you're nice I might let you have some of my pizza," he said instead, reaching down for his jeans.

"_Your _pizza?" Jess repeated indignantly, as he'd known she would. "_I _ordered it."

"_I_ paid for it."

"I already did that."

"Well I paid for its delivery."

"Oh yes, thank god you were here," Jess said sarcastically. "I can't count the amount of times delivery boys have come along and just taken the food away again because I haven't given them twenty extra quid."

"Exactly," Becker said. He'd been pulling on his t-shirt and not looking at Jess, but when he turned round, fully dressed, it was to find that instead of getting dressed like him, she'd merely put on a black silk dressing gown. If you could call it that – it was even shorter than the dresses and skirts she usually wore, and the material wasn't see-through but Becker was pretty sure that in the right light it could be.

He practically swallowed his tongue at the sight of her.

Jess was heading across the room to the door, but Becker just stood there staring at her, having serious second thoughts about the need to eat. Ever again.

Jess stopped in the doorway and looked back at him, raising an eyebrow. "You alright?"

Becker swallowed again, and blinked. "Are you wearing anything under that?" He asked her.

Jess obviously realized how flustered he was then, and smirked at him. "I guess you'll have to wait and see," she said, before _sauntering _out of the room.

"I'm not very patient," Becker said, following her.

"You should be, it's a virtue," Jess quipped, heading for the kitchen.

Becker caught up with her by the counter where he'd first kissed her that evening, and quickly ascertained that she was wearing her knickers but nothing else underneath. She pushed him away, laughing and straightening her robe, and he grabbed the pizza while she got them drinks and plates.

Twenty minutes later found them on the sofa, watching the QI marathon that was still playing on the TV. Becker was facing the TV, but Jess was sat sideways with her legs slung over his lap. He'd placed the pizza box on the sofa on the other side of him, and he was quite enjoying her having to basically climb on top of him every time she wanted more.

He himself had only eaten a couple of slices – Jess was far too distracting for him to pay much attention to food.

He was in the middle of moving the pizza even further away from Jess as she reached for it again when the sound of a key in the front door made both of them freeze.

Connor and Abby were back.

Becker looked at Jess, and she gave him a small smile. They hadn't got round to talking about the team and the ARC and all the other things they should probably think about now that they were together properly. Jess started to scoot back on the sofa, swinging her legs round off of his lap.

Becker's hands dropped onto her legs and held them tight, keeping them in place. Jess gave him a surprised, slightly confused look, and he just shook his head.

"I'm done pretending," he said firmly.

Jess stared at him for a moment before reaching out, grabbing his shirt collar in both her hands, and yanking him towards her for a kiss. Becker kept his hands where they were but returned the kiss enthusiastically, opening his mouth to her and angling his head to deepen it.

"Jess we're home! Are you – _oh my god_!"

Becker started to pull away at the sound of Connor's voice suddenly very close by, but Jess tightened her grip on him and kept kissing him. He smiled into the kiss and happily continued.

He heard footsteps and then Abby's voice. "What –" she broke off and gasped loudly, and after a moment Jess pulled away.

Becker and Jess shared a smile before turning to look at Abby and Connor, who were gaping at them from a few feet away.

"Hi guys," Jess said cheerily, as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on. "How was the film?"

Abby snapped out of her shock and gave them a triumphant look. "I knew it!" She exalted. "I knew something happened at that wedding!"

Connor frowned. "Wait, what?"

Abby ignored him and bounded over to the seating area, a big grin on her face. She threw herself onto the other couch and looked at them expectantly. Connor followed her, still looking slightly confused – though pleased, Becker noted.

"Well come on then, tell me everything," Abby demanded. "What happened? Why all the secrecy this week?"

Becker glanced at Jess and she looked back at him. They smiled again.

THE END

So there will be an epilogue, which I hoped to get up tonight as well, but I'm afraid it's too late now and I'm busy until the weekend… but hopefully Saturday! Until then :-)


	29. Epilogue

Well, here it is. The real end of the road.

I'm really sorry for the delay in getting this posted. I was very busy at work, and then I've been ill for the last couple of weeks and unable to use a computer. Anyway, I'm better now and here's the epilogue – it's almost 4,000 words long, so enjoy!

Thank you all so, so much for your enthusiasm and feedback on this story. I've been blown away by the volume and positivity of the reviews, and though I've been terrible at answering them I've really appreciated all of them. I'll try my best to reply to the reviews from this chapter, so please log in to review if you can!

I'm gonna turn my attention to some of my other Primeval stories now, so hopefully I'll be posting more soon. :-)

**Epilogue **

"Okay, I think that's everything," Becker said, striding over to where Matt and Abby stood near the camp shower block. "Perimeter's in place, and the second perimeter is closing in – if any of them got outside the first perimeter, we'll find them."

They were all at an anomaly call-out at a campsite just outside London – luckily no one was really camping out this time of year, but there'd been a massive incursion of about thirty or forty dog-sized rodent type things that were taking ages to round up.

"I doubt any of them broke the perimeter – they're not that quick," Abby said. "Or stealthy."

She was right. They really couldn't move that fast. Plus they were pretty trusting, and weren't giving the ARC soldiers much trouble catching them.

"True," Becker said. "Anyway, I need to go. I'm sorry, but I need to be back at the ARC by five."

"It's gone five already," said Matt.

Becker blinked at him. "What?" He looked at his watch and saw that Matt was absolutely right – it was almost ten past. He'd completely lost track of time rounding up those stupid rodents. "_Crap_. Bloody prehistoric pests!" He exclaimed.

He turned away from Matt and Abby and tapped his earpiece to turn it on. "Jess? Jess come in."

"_It's Gary_," came the reply. "_Jess has already left_."

Becker frowned, a little thrown – she wouldn't go without him, would she? He reached for his mobile to call her instead and she answered almost immediately.

"Jess I'm still at the site," he said. "I'm sorry –"

"_It's okay, I'm on my way to you_," Jess replied.

"What?"

"_It was pretty obvious you wouldn't get back before five – so I left_," she explained. "_You're actually on the way to the hotel, so I'll pick you up and you can change in the car_."

Becker sighed in relief, and then grinned. "I love how practical you are," he said.

Jess snorted. "_Thanks!_"

"No I mean it," Becker said earnestly. "Most people might not think practicality is a particularly sexy trait, but you drive me crazy when you get all logistical."

He could hear Jess grinning through her answer. "_I think you're going to go even crazier when you see me_," she said coyly.

Becker grinned as well. "Okay – hurry." He ended the call, still smiling, and then noticed Abby and Matt smirking at him.

"You two are so revolting," Matt said.

Becker rolled his eyes. "If you must know, Jess and I have somewhere to be, so she's driving here to get me," he said.

"Still revolting," Matt said, making Abby laugh.

Becker glared at them both. "I'm going to go check the perimeter again," he said.

He spent the next fifteen minutes doing so, but everything was fine and nobody needed him to butt in, so he ended up sitting on a low wall facing the camp's entrance, waiting for Jess to arrive. Matt came and joined him after a little while, but he didn't carry on teasing him. He was one to talk anyway, the way he and Emily carried on.

The ARC _was_ a bit couple-centric these days… Becker could kind of understand why Lester walked around with a permanent look of disgust. Not that Becker minded being one of the causes of his discomfort. Not at _all_.

Becker was watching one of his men heading towards the anomaly with one of the creatures cradled in his arms like it was a pet cat or something when a low whistle from Matt brought his attention back to the road.

"Nice car."

Becker's jaw dropped. "What the – oh she _didn't_," he moaned, getting shakily to his feet.

She had. Jess was driving up the road towards him, in _his car_. _HIS car. _

She pulled up in front of him and rolled down the window. She actually had the _nerve_ to smile at him. "Come on – get in," she said. "Your suit's in the back."

Becker was just gaping at her. "You – you're – _that's my car_," he stuttered.

Jess raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? And here I thought I'd just got lucky in the car park," she said sardonically.

"Jess!" Becker exclaimed, snapping out of his stunned stupor and glaring at her. "What are you _doing_?"

Jess gave an exasperated little huff. "I didn't bring my car in today because I knew I'd be leaving with you, and you brought this one in," she said shortly. "What were you expecting me to turn up in?"

Becker had no time for her logic. "I – get out, I'm driving," he said, reaching for the door handle.

Jess slammed her hand down flat on top of the door handle before he could get to it, and glared up at him. "Becker, we have fifteen minutes to get to this thing, and it's a twenty minute drive from here," she said flatly. "Now get in the back and get your damn suit on!"

"Jessica!"

"Hilary!"

Becker was only able to match her glare for a few moments before common sense prevailed. It didn't stop him growling as he yanked open the door behind Jess and climbed into the back seat of his car for possibly the first time ever. Jess gave Matt (who was laughing, the unfeeling bastard) a cheery goodbye and pulled away.

"I can't believe this," Becker said as they drove towards the camp exit, much faster than he was comfortable with. Jess gave him an annoyed look in the rearview mirror but didn't say anything.

Becker started to reach for the suit bag on the seat next to him, but he couldn't just let it go. "Seriously, I just… I can't believe you would do this to me," he said. Didn't she _understand_?

But she just rolled her eyes. "I'm just driving your car," she said. "You make it sound like I'm cheating on you or something."

"You know I don't like people driving this car!" Becker exclaimed.

"And I also know that we really don't want to be late today," Jess snapped. She looked at him in the mirror again. "Do we?"

Becker glared at her, but he couldn't refute it. They really _didn't _want to be late. Damnit.

Jess took his silence for the victory that it was. "That's what I thought," she said. "So quit your whining and suit up!"

XXX

Jess managed to get them there in just over fifteen minutes, despite Becker glaring daggers at her from the backseat the entire time. Even when he'd been changing his clothes he'd managed to keep up a fairly consistent scowl.

Honestly, he was such a _baby_. She'd known that he'd throw a hissy fit when he saw her driving his precious car, but what else could she do? The only way they wouldn't be late was if she'd left the ARC when she did to go and collect him en route, and as she'd said to him she'd had no choice but to take his car as she didn't have hers with her. It was his own fault for choosing to drive his Bentley to work that day.

Anyway, she put her foot down and cheerfully ignored his scowls and pointed remarks about her driving, while he got visibly tenser and tenser the nearer they got to the hotel. He was pretty damn lucky that she was so understanding, really – _some _women might get offended by their boyfriend practically having an aneurism at the thought of them driving their car.

She, on the other hand, actually found it pretty funny that she could see a vein throbbing in his temple by the time she parked the car in front of the hotel.

Becker was out of the car within microseconds of them coming to a stop, and he yanked her door open in what could be construed as a gentlemanly act but was in actual fact a none-too-subtle attempt to get her out of the driving seat as soon as possible.

Jess smirked and took her time unbuckling her seatbelt, checking her hair in the mirror and then retrieving her handbag from the passenger seat. By the time she climbed out of the car, smirk still firmly in place, Becker was seething.

Becker slammed the car door shut and stepped closer, crowding her back against the side of the car. "You are in so much trouble," he said in a low voice.

Jess knew that he was serious, but she couldn't help but smirk even more. "Oh really?" She asked, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

Becker narrowed his eyes. "Yes," he said firmly. "_Actual_ trouble."

Jess grinned and placed her hands on his chest, smoothing them over the lapels of his suit. "I'm going to be punished, am I?" She asked coyly.

Becker pulled away slightly to glare at her more clearly. "Jess, this is serious," he said firmly.

Jess gave him a look of wide-eyed innocence. "I'm being serious," she said. Then she leant further into the side of the car, drew her left foot up against her right calf and tossed her hair back over her shoulder. "I know I'm a bad, bad girl and I have to be punished…"

Becker's glare slipped and his lips twitched, and Jess grinned. Becker rolled his eyes and stepped up to her again. "Oh shut up," he growled before leaning in and kissing her.

Jess smiled against his lips and went up on her tiptoes to get closer to him, one hand toying with the hair at the nape of his neck and the other sneaking under his jacket to rest against his side.

"Get a room!"

They pulled apart and looked round towards the sound of the voice to find Mindy strolling towards them across the car park, a big grin on her face. Jess turned further away from Becker and grinned back at her.

"Hi Mindy!" She exclaimed happily.

"Jess – so good to see you!" Mindy said as she reached them. She kissed Jess on the cheek and then hugged her tightly. She pulled away and turned to Becker, her smile fading immediately.

She reached up and whacked Becker on the back of his head. "And you – thank god you came to your senses and put everything right," she said sternly. She shook her head. "You idiot."

Jess bit her lip as she realised what Mindy's words meant, and a moment later she saw Becker come to the same realisation. "Yeah I – what?" His eyes widened. "Oh god, Ronnie told you."

"Uh-huh," Mindy said, giving him a deeply unimpressed look. "Again – you're an idiot."

Becker glanced at Jess, who could do nothing more than stare back at him. She – they – should probably have expected Ronnie to tell his sisters the truth about them, but the fact was they hadn't considered it. And now here they were, and the likelihood was that they would have to deal with three irate women.

Well, Becker would have to deal with them anyway. If Jess knew his sisters – and she liked to think she did – they would lay the blame squarely on him.

She found that she was okay with that.

Becker turned back to his sister. "Hey, I – OW."

Tabby had appeared next to him, and announced her presence with a punch to his arm. It must have been pretty hard, because he yelped and immediately rubbed his arm with his other hand. He stared at Tabby, who just glared up at him.

"Hello," she said coolly.

Becker stared at her. "Did you… you actually switched your rings over so it would hurt more when you punched me," he said disbelievingly.

Jess glanced down and saw that he was right – she'd put her wedding and engagement rings on her other hand. Jess tried to hide her smile but she didn't quite manage it – luckily Becker was too busy glaring at his sister to notice.

Tabby folded her arms and continued scowling at him. "Yes I did," she said. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"My arm does!" Becker exclaimed.

"I can't believe you did that to Jess!" Tabby said.

Becker shifted guiltily, and this time he did see Jess' amused smile. He rolled his eyes. "Okay, maybe I deserved the punch," he conceded.

"Damn right you did," Tabby said. Then she punched him again. "And _that's_ for lying to us."

"OW!" Becker took a couple of steps away from Tabby. "Okay, stop now."

Tabby walked over to Jess and hugged her. "Hi Jess!"

"Hiya," Jess said with a grin.

"What, she doesn't get punched?" Becker said grumpily.

"Hey!" Jess said indignantly, glaring at her traitorous boyfriend.

He shrugged. "If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me," he said. Jess shook her head in mock disappointment, and he gave her a completely unapologetic look.

Mindy tutted. "We all know it wasn't Jess' idea," she said.

"You really think I'd be able to pull of something like that without Jess pulling the strings?" Becker said.

"Hmm," said Tabby. "That's a good point." She and Mindy both looked at Jess, and gave her a simultaneous raised eyebrow.

Jess' jaw dropped and she shook her head at Becker. "I'm seeing a whole new side to you right now," she said.

Becker smirked. "Maybe if you hadn't driven my car without permission," he said smugly.

Mindy laughed. "And you're still alive?" She said. "That's true love right there."

Jess smiled, feeling herself blush a little. She could feel Becker's eyes on her, but before she could look at him he yelped in pain again.

"OW!" Jess looked up and saw that Carrie had appeared, and it seemed she had just punched Becker on the same spot on his arm as Tabby. Becker was glaring at her, rubbing his arm. "Seriously?" He demanded.

Carrie just glared right back at him. "You lied to me on my _wedding day_," she said. "That's low."

Becker shifted guiltily again, and Jess felt a little uncomfortable herself… but then Carrie turned to her with a big smile. "Hi Jess!" She said cheerfully.

Jess saw Becker's eyes widen at Carrie's sudden change of tone, and she bit back a laugh as she answered. "Hi Carrie! How was the honeymoon?" She asked, stepping forward to hug her. "Do you have pictures?"

"Of course!" Carrie said. "It was amazing, so beautiful."

"So really, Jess gets nothing for partaking of the lying?" Becker cut in. "For basically masterminding the whole charade?"

"She has to put up with you – that's punishment enough," Carrie said drily, making her sisters laugh.

"_Auntie Jess!_"

Jess barely had time to look up before Jake barreled into her, wrapping his arms around her waist and hugging her tight. Jess' face split into a grin and she crouched down to hug Jake properly. He started talking a mile a minute, but it was hard to hear him over the sound of the rest of the kids arriving – Jess had to give hugs to them all (though Jake refused to let go of her), and several of them immediately started tugging on Becker to try and get him to start throwing them round. Becker's brothers-in-law were there a few seconds later, then his parents were there and then Ronnie arrived and finally the barely-controlled chaos that was the Becker family started to move across the car park and into the restaurant.

Tabby peeled Jake off of Jess as they made their way across to the restaurant where they were having dinner, and she hung back a little bit behind the kids and their parents, to where Becker was standing a little bit off to the side.

Jess smiled at him and slid her hand into his – he smiled back.

"Ready for this?" She asked him teasingly.

His smile widened. "Actually, I feel a lot better having you here to protect me," he said. Then he rolled his eyes. "Though I have to say you're not doing a very good job of it so far…" He rubbed his arm where Tabby and Carrie had punched him.

Jess gave him a fake pout. "Aw, poor baby," she said, ducking her head to kiss the spot on his arm. Becker laughed and then pulled her closer to kiss her on the temple.

"Urgh, you two are sickening."

It was Ronnie. Becker groaned – quietly, but loud enough for Jess to hear. She smirked up at him before pulling away and hurrying over to hug his sister. Becker followed her a couple of steps but hung back as Jess enthusiastically threw her arms around Ronnie.

"Happy birthday!" She said happily. Ronnie gave Jess a wide smile as the two of them pulled apart.

"Thanks Jess," she said. "I'm really glad you're here." She looked over Jess' shoulder to give Becker a pointed smirk. Jess looked round too, just in time to see Becker fold his arms and scowl at Ronnie. Jess knew he hadn't been looking forward to seeing Ronnie again, thinking that she was going to be 'unbearably smug' in his words – and though the evidence was already suggesting he was right, it was still Ronnie's _birthday_, and he should be nice.

So Jess scowled right back at him. After a couple of seconds he rolled his eyes and walked over to them. "Happy birthday," he said, reaching round Jess to kiss Ronnie on the cheek.

"Thanks, Hil," Ronnie said. She was still smirking. "You're looking well. Like you've had a fun few weeks."

Becker tensed. Jess slipped her arm under Becker's jacket and around his waist, and squeezed his side with her hand, and he relaxed slightly. He put his arm around her shoulders, and even the feel of his hand coming to rest at the top of her arm felt like an 'I told you so'.

"It's been okay," Becker said drily. "Busy at work. How are you?"

Ronnie raised an eyebrow in a very Becker-like fashion, her smirk just getting wider. "I'm good," she said. "I've been busy too." She shrugged. "Making sure my younger siblings don't mess up their lives."

Jess glanced at Becker to see that he was staring Ronnie down with narrowed eyes.

"Why, is Mindy talking about joining the circus again?" He said after a couple of moments.

Jess bit her lip to stop herself laughing, and looked back at Ronnie again to see that she was staring up at Becker, her eyes narrowed like his and her expression determined. She looked back and forth between the siblings a couple of times, waiting for one of them to say something else, but they just stood there staring.

Jess rolled her eyes. This could go on all day. She dug her fingernails into Becker's side, but aside from flinching he didn't react. Jess dug her nails in again and poked him in the stomach with her other hand. "Hil," she said sternly.

Becker held Ronnie's stare for another moment before looking down at Jess. She shook her head slightly at him, trying not to smile, and he sighed. "Fine," he said petulantly.

He looked back at Ronnie. "I'm only saying this once," he said. He took a deep breath. "Thank you."

Ronnie tilted her head to one side and raised an eyebrow again. "For what, darling?" She asked sweetly.

Even Jess thought she was pushing it at this point, but that didn't make the look on Becker's face any less funny. Jess had to bite her lip again as Becker gritted his teeth. She tightened her arm around his waist, and so she felt him tense up.

"Thank you, my darling beautiful sister for helping me come to my senses and reuniting me with the love of my life," Becker said drily. "I don't know what I would do without you."

Jess' eyes widened, and she ducked her head so that the others couldn't see the surprise on her face. _Love of my life._

It wasn't that he hadn't told her he loved her. He had. They'd spent basically all of their time together for the past three weeks, and things had slipped out within days of their getting together… No. She wasn't going to read anything into it – he was just trying to wind Ronnie up. But still, it was an interesting choice of words, and one she wasn't going to let him get away with.

Jess looked back up at Ronnie, and saw she was grinning triumphantly. "You're very welcome," she said. She winked at Jess, who couldn't help but smirk back at her, and then brushed past them both to start towards the restaurant.

Becker turned to Jess immediately. "Told you so," he said, doing a very convincing impression of a seven-year-old.

Jess just grinned. "Love of your life?" She said, unable to resist the urge to tease him for even a minute.

She expected him to have some comeback ready, some clever quip – he usually did when she started teasing him. Instead he just looked at her silently for a couple of moments, and then smiled softly. Jess felt herself blush – she could tell Becker noticed, because his smile widened, but before she could think of anything else to say he leant down and kissed her.

It was soft, and it was quick, but it was enough to take Jess' breath away with the sweetness of it. Becker was still smiling when he pulled away from her, and Jess had to blink a couple of times to try and clear her head.

They stood looking at each other for a couple of moments, and then Becker shrugged.

"Let's face it, they're never going to let me date anyone else," came the quip Jess had been waiting for.

She grinned. "Does that mean I can drive your car whenever I want?"

Becker froze, all traces of humour gone from his face. "Don't you dare," he said.

Jess laughed, grabbed his hand and started to pull him towards the restaurant. "Don't worry," she said. "I'm kidding. Probably."

"Not funny."

"I'm a really good driver."

"Jess."

"And I'll always put the seat back."

"Seriously, stop."

**THE END**


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